Tag: injured

Eight people were injured yesterday in a clash between two factions of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The incident occurred in Apete.

A source said the clash might not have been unconnected with the security contract awarded to the group (OPC) by the firm handling the reconstruction of the Apete Bridge.

It was learnt that about 40 members of a faction of the group called Alajobi stormed the area around 9am and attacked members of the rival faction, who were securing the property of the construction firm.

Sources said passers-by and residents, including students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, ran for safety when they saw the heavily armed men.

The clash lasted for almost an hour.

Ajagbe Kabiru, Mutairu Alase and Sunday Badmus are among the injured.

The OPC Chairman in Ido Local Government, Mr. Muritala Ifawale, a.k.a. Muri Omi, said those injured were receiving treatment at a private hospital in the area.

Ifawale said the attackers, armed with cutlasses, machetes and guns, beat up his men, who were on duty.

He said the attack might have been provoked by earlier attempts by some OPC members steal at the site. The OPC chief said this which was resisted by his faction.

Ifawale said the incident had been reported at Apete Police Station.

Seven persons were injured yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, in a clash between supporters of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

It was learnt that four ACN supporters are in critical condition at the emergency ward of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH).

They are Gbenga Akinwumi, Tayo Faboya, Olajiga Gbenga and Olatunji Azeez.

Sources said trouble began when former Governor Ayo Fayose’s supporters flooded the state capital with his (Fayose’s) posters, which bore the inscription, “Restoration 2014”.

It was learnt that some ACN supporters tried to stop them from pasting the posters at Irona.

Sources said Fayose’s men allegedly attacked the unarmed ACN supporters with machetes.

Akinwumi said: “We were in our homes when Fayose’s men came with the posters and we told them to go. They insisted that they must paste the posters, whether we consented or not.”

When reporters visited the Okesa Central Police Station, persons believed to be loyalists of both parties were making statements.

Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation Funminiyi Afuye said: “Trouble always trails Fayose anywhere he goes. The world should be aware that he has started with his brigandage again, attacking people in their homes. Since he started another round of gyration, violence has crept in.

“Despite the standing order against the use of sirens, Fayose always move about in a convoy of cars blaring siren.

“Those attacked in their homes are now in the hospital, critically injured. Nobody should try the resolve of this government to maintain peace.”

Director-General of the Fayose Campaign Organisation Gboyega Oguntuase said: “They cannot hound us out of the state. Ekiti belongs to all of us. If they are doing this when real politics has not started, what do you think they will do when it gets hotter?”

SCORES of passengers were injured yesterday when two trains collided at Idiko, Mushin, a Lagos suburb.

One of the trains was on motion; the other was stationary when the accident occurred. Both had passengers on board.

A accident occurred at 8.20am., during the rush hour, when pupils and workers were crossing the rail line.

The loud bang from the collision made people to scamper for safety. Personal effects of petty traders littered the scene when The Nation visited.

It was gathered that the accident followed the failure of a technical officer to change-over the track for the incoming train to maintain a free lane.

Some of those who sat on top of the moving train jumped off before the accident, The Nation learnt. Sympathisers said a woman allegedly broke her spinal cord and an expectant mother was said to have miscarried. There was blood at the scene as a rescue team from the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) took the injured to the hospital.

An eyewitness said when the NRC officer saw that there would be a collision, he rushed out of his office, waving a yellow and black flag signalling the train to stop. “It was too late for the train to stop, but for the courage of the driver, who slowed down, we would have been carrying dead bodies here now,” said an eyewitness, Biyi Kamoru, a trader.

NRC Director of Corporate Planning Mr Timothy Zalanga, who was at the scene with some engineers, said he could not confirm the number of those injured. He asked our reporter to wait for “official statement” from the NRC Information Unit.

Muyiwa Bonajo, a cobbler, who claimed to have witnessed the accident, said: “I sat on that chair (pointing to a chair) relaxing after I took my daughter to school. Suddenly I saw Ajere, my carpenter friend, running towards my direction screaming there will be a train accident. As he was approaching, he was telling people to run far away from the scene. I stood up and I saw the moving train heading towards the one at rest. I ran away but after the collision, we all rushed back and saw injured passengers.

“Policemen from Elewedu Station besieged the scene immediately and cordoned the place off, to prevent miscreants from looting. I saw about 50 people with bleeding heads, hands and legs. I saw a woman, who is seriously injured on her back being taken away by the people that came from the NRC for the rescue operation.”

Mrs Adenike Osunaike said she was in her store when she heard a loud bang. “I thought the end of the world had come but I later saw people running into Idera Street shouting accident, accident, accident. There was confusion but when everything calmed down, I saw many people who sustained minor injuries,” Osunaike told The Nation.

In a statement, NRC spokesman David Ndakotsu said: “The management of Nigerian Railway Corporation wishes to confirm a train accident at Mushin Railway Station, on Wednesday, 7th November, at about 08:22 hours.

“The two trains involved in the accident were mass transit trains, one coming from Iddo to Ijoko and the other from Ijoko to Iddo.

“There were no fatalities. However, three of the four injured persons were treated at the Railway Clinic and have since been discharged.

“The NRC management has since set up a high-level committee to investigate the cause of the accident. Meanwhile, normal services have since resumed in Lagos.”

Six persons were yesterday killed in an accident on the Ibadan/Oyo Expressway’

Fifteen people were injured.

The accident occurred in Fiditi.

It was gathered that the tyres of a Sokoto–bound bus burst and it somersaulted.

Sources said the victims were carried off the road by policemen and men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

The injured were taken to the State Hospital, Oyo, and the bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the hospital’s mortuary.

The Acting Medical Officer of the hospital, Dr. Alayo Ayo, said: “Six persons have been confirmed dead. We are treating 15 persons with crush injuries, ragged laceration and flush avulsion, even though we are yet to see their relations. We are trying to contact them through the victims’ mobile phones and we are optimistic that they will respond. Saving their lives is the most important thing.”