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Mob kills two policemen over death of mother, two children in accident

By Oluwaseun Akingboye (Akure) and Dom Ekpunobi (Onitsha)
28 July 2017   |   4:19 am
Tragedy struck in the commercial city of Onitsha yesterday when an angry mob lynched two policemen, who were alleged to have caused the accident that claimed the lives of six persons, including a woman and her two children.

• Two dead as suspected cult groups clash in Ondo
Tragedy struck in the commercial city of Onitsha yesterday when an angry mob lynched two policemen, who were alleged to have caused the accident that claimed the lives of six persons, including a woman and her two children.

The incident happened at Owerri Road, Onitsha around 3p.m. yesterday. According to eyewitness account, the driver of a loaded tipper truck was maneuovering his way to escape police extortion and lost control, crushing a woman and her two children, who were waiting to board a vehicle.

Another account stated that a policeman stopped a tricycle driver, popularly known as Keke NAPEP to collect N50, unaware that the truck behind the tricycle had a faulty brake. The truck hit the Keke and the Keke hit a woman standing by the roadside. All the five people inside the Keke died, including the woman who was hit.

One of the victim, a woman, was carrying a five months old baby girl, who hit her head on the road but thankfully, the girl survived the accident and is receiving medical attention at a hospital close to the scene of the accident. The late woman’s husband was seen at the scene crying uncontrollably and saying the girl is their first child of the marriage.

It was gathered that the policemen immediately took to their heels but the mob spontaneously pursued after them and lynched two, while others escaped. The policemen were said to have been posted to guard a factory along Owerri Road.

In a swift reaction to the killings, policemen from the Okpoko Police Station began carrying out massive arrest of persons along Owerri Road, including passersby and those carrying out businesses in the area.

When contacted over the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State command, Nkiru Nwude, said she was yet to be briefed by the police division in the area.

Meanwhile, two persons, Oluwole Samson and Wale Ajayi, have lost their lives due to separate cult clashes that broke out between two suspected cult members in Ondo West Local Council of Ondo State.

The victims were shut dead yesterday in Sabo and Orisunmibare streets in the community, although details surrounding their death was still based on speculations as at the time of filing this report.

The Guardian reliably gathered from different sources that one of the victims, Oluwole, was a strong member of Eiye Confraternity and had gone out to a relaxation centre located at Ayeyemi Street in the company of some of his friends.

It was further learnt that while they were at the relaxation centre, an argument ensued between them and another rival cult group.

Oluwole, who was a student of one of the higher institutions in the state until his death, was reportedly trailed to Orisunmibare where he was shot dead on close range by some yet to be identified persons.

The second victim, Ajayi, a revenue collector, allegedly identified as a strong member of Aiye Confraternity, was also shot dead by yet to be identified persons around 6:30a.m. shortly before he resumed for his daily operation in the area.

The unfortunate incidents heightened tension in the community immediately the news was spread around, leading to panic as traders and shop owners in the areas hurriedly closed their shops.

The situation, however, was promptly brought under control following the timely redeployment of police officers as well as men of the Department of State Security (DSS) to the scene of the two incidents.

Police officers from the Enuowa Divisional Police Station, Ondo, made frantic efforts to restore calmness and evacuate the bodies of the victims to the mortuary.

Similarly, the patrol vehicle of the Special Anti-robbery Squad Department of the Funbi-Fagun Divisional Police Station were seen patrolling the whole area.

Confirming the incidents, Mr. Xpress Omoigui and Mr. Olu-Ojo Ogunmoyole, DPOs from Enuowa and Funbi-Fagun stations respectively, disclosed that three persons have been invited over the incidents and were helping the police to unravel the culprits.

The DPOs added that the reports concerning the two incidents had been forwarded to the appropriate quarters at the Ondo State police command headquarters in Akure for further investigation.

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