The death of two persons in Ilara Mokin, located in the Ifedore local government area of Ondo state on Sunday, July 29, led to serious protests among youths in the community
According to an eyewitness report, the development prompted youths to burn the vehicle and beat up some security operatives in the area
The unnamed witness said that the protesting youths also assaulted the divisional police officer in the town, Wole Ogodo There was tension and mayhem in Ilara Mokin, located in the Ifedore local government area of Ondo state on Sunday, July 29, when two members of the coommunity were killed in an autocrash.
According to an eyewitness, the deceased, who had yet been unidentified, were on a motorcycle on the Ilesa-Akure expressway when the 18-passenger commercial bus crushed them to death, Punch reports.
The eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said the development caused serious protest by the youths of the community who allegedly razed the bus and attacked the security personnel in the area. Punch reported that Wole Ogodo, the divisional police officer in the town, was allegedly assaulted in his attempt to restore calm and order among the protesters.
The unnamed eyewitness said: “The two men who were indigenes of the town were crushed to death by the bus that was travelling to Lagos. This infuriated the people of the town because they believed that the driver of the bus was reckless.
“They immediately organised a protest and burnt down the bus and blocked the highway, they also attacked policemen as they tried to stop them.
The DPO was beaten up.” Consequently, there was terrible traffic jam on the expressway which took the policemen and the men of the Ondo state sector command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) several hours to clear.
Confirming the development, Femi Joseph, the state police public relations officer, alleged that the protesters took the laws into their own hands, adding that policemen had restored order to the expressway.
Joseph said: “There was a fatal accident which claimed two lives, but the people of the community were unruly as they burnt down the vehicle and as the DPO was trying to prevent them from burning the vehicle, they overpowered him and seriously assaulted him.
“However, we have begun our investigation and we will still arrest those that set the bus ablaze and those that beat the DPO because they have committed another offence.”
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