Four policemen die in auto accident

• 13 families rendered homeless, villagers panic as soldier, policemen clash in Ebonyi

Four policemen attached to the ‘A’ team of the Police X Squad at the Lagos State Police Command died on Sunday in a fatal accident while on surveillance and patrol duty.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, in a statement, said the accident occurred on Isiwu Road in Imota, near Ikorodu in Lagos State around 1:00p.m.

He said: “Around 1:00p.m. on Sunday, a police truck with Registration Number NPF 409 D with five policemen on board was involved in a head-on collision with a 911 tipper lorry with no registration number.

“The driver of the Nissan frontier 911-van, who could not be identified, fled the scene. It was disclosed that both vehicles were coming from opposite directions and had a head-on collision at a point near Isiwu. Three policemen died on the spot.

“An ASP and an inspector who sustained serious injuries were rushed to LASUTH, Ikeja, where one of them was later confirmed dead. The fifth officer is currently on admission.”

Famous-Cole said the bodies of the deceased had been deposited at the General Hospital, Ikorodu where they would be taken to LASUTH, Ikeja, for autopsy, adding that both vehicles involved in the accident had been towed to the Ikorodu Police Division, as investigation was ongoing.

“As the Lagos State Police Command mourns the death of some of its finest officers, who died on active duty, the command will not leave any stone unturned to bring justice to the lost souls.”

Meanwhile, at least 13 families of police officers attached to Edda, Afikpo South Local Council of Ebonyi State and residents of the area are now taking refuge in the divisional headquarters in Owutu-Edda, while a private soldier, Corporal Ikechukwu Nnachi Ogbaa, is receiving treatments following a gunshot injury he sustained on his leg after a clash between some policemen and youths from the area.

According to an eyewitness, Sunday Okporie, trouble started when men of the Operation Safer Highway patrol reportedly confronted the wife of the said private soldier for putting on his military fez cap and demanded for her identity to which she promptly told the patrol team that her husband was a soldier.

“They asked her to call her husband before they could release her motorcycle. She did so but when he got to the scene, the police assaulted him,” said an eyewitness.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, DSP Jude Madu, who confirmed the incident, said the gunshot injury was an accidental discharge resulting from attack on the police team that went to effect the arrest of the said soldier.

“As a result of that altercation, the youths mobilised themselves and started visiting individual homes of policemen residing both in Owutu and around other parts of Afikpo South. Anywhere they entered, they brought out the belongings of policemen and set them ablaze,” Madu said.