Tag: injured

Five persons were reportedly injured yesterday at the Onitsha Bridge Market, following a fracas, which ensued when suspected thugs disrupted the meeting of the line chairmen and secretaries of the market union.

They were discussing the  botched market election when trouble occurred.

Federal Government has threatened to close the market because of the policy of non-sale of drugs in open market.

Sources said about 40 suspected thugs allegedly working for the caretaker committee chairman invaded the meeting with weapons soon after it was declared open.

The suspected hoodlums, according to the sources, ordered the meeting to be closed, saying the group was not permitted to convene it.

The coordinating chairman of the forum and chairman of the Tablet line, Uchenna Ubah, who was allegedly injured, had his pair of spectacles broken by the suspected thugs.

A member of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Anambra State and the secretary of the Unity line, Comrade Ugochukwu Oforma, decried the act as “barbaric.”

The victims urged Governor Willie Obiano through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to wade into the matter.

They enjoined the governor to conduct an election in the market to avert crisis.

The Caretaker Committee Chairman, Ugochukwu Nwosu, said he was not aware of the incident.

He said he would talk “at the appropriate time.”

At press time, the matter had been reported at the Fegge Police Station and the Divisional Police Officer, Rabiu Garba, had invited the suspects for questioning.

Four people were injured yesterday in a fire on the Ibadan end of the Lagos/Ibadan expressway.

Three vehicles were burnt.

It was learnt that a tanker spilled diesel on the road and exploded.

One of the victims sustained first degree burns.

The other three got injured while trying to put out the fire.

The accident caused a traffic gridlock on the road, as people abandoned their vehicles and ran to safety.

Many drivers pulled off the road and joined those trying to put out the fire.

An eyewitness, Augustine Idowu, said: “The tanker was coming from Lagos towards Ibadan. Something went wrong suddenly and the vehicle split into two. The tank fell and the road was full of diesel. Almost immediately, fire emanated from the effect of the contact between the tar and the iron used to construct the tank. The fire travelled fast with the diesel and three other vehicles got burnt.”

Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Assistant Commandant in charge of Oluyole, Ibadan Southwest and Ona Ara councils Sanya Adeoye said the injured were taken to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Four people died in a road accident at Igbara Oke, Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State, at the weekend.

It involved an 18-seater Mazda bus marked Lagos KSF 706 XF and a Honda Accord Saloon numbered AA239GBH.

Fourteen people were injured.

The Officer-in-charge of Field Operations, Ondo Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Joseph Ojerinde, said the accident, which occurred around 6:30pm on Saturday, was caused by one of the drivers’ carelessness.

He said: “Immediately we were informed about the accident, our men moved to the scene. We were told that the Honda Accord car dangerously overtook a vehicle and collided with the Mazda bus, which was coming from the opposite direction.”

Ojerinde said 22 people, comprising 14 males, four females and four children, were involved in the accident. He said four men died, adding that their bodies were deposited at the mortuary of the State Specialist Hospital in Akure.

The injured were taken to the General Hospitals in Igbara Oke and Ilara-Mokin.

Yesterday, the advance team of President Goodluck Jonathan’s entourage, which was returning to Abuja from Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, rescued accident victims on the Lokoja-Abuja highway.

The accident occurred at Okpu, after Lokoja. A Nissan Almera car marked AH 47 KAA and a Honda Accord car (Baby Boy) numbered BG945BWR collided.

The 11 passengers in both cars sustained varying degrees of injury.

The accident occurred a few minutes before the presidential motorcade got to the scene. The security/medical team in the convoy rescued victims trapped in the cars.

The front passenger seat of the Nissan car was axed to rescue a middle-aged woman.

Dr. Aliyu Usman of the State House Clinic and two nurses gave first aid treatment to the victims.

Officers of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), led by Mohammed Haruna, got to the scene about 30 minutes into the rescue operation.

The victims were taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Lokoja, in an FRSC rescue van.

An eye witness, Aliyu Sadiq, said the accident was caused by over-speeding, dangerous driving and the poor state of the road.

Sadiq urged the Federal Government to expedite work on the dualisation of the Lokoja-Abuja highway.

The eye witness, who is a commercial bus driver, said he plied the road on a daily basis, adding that “there is a hardly a day that an accident is not recorded on the road”.

Over 200 youths suspected to be Ogbaru youths yesterday invaded the popular Ogboefere (household utensils) market in Onitsha, Anambra State, injuring 20 people.

Eyewitnesses said soldiers from the 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, quelled the crisis.

They said the youths invaded the market to collect revenues from trucks, which were loading and offloading goods.

It was learnt that the traders resisted and this caused a free-for-all. The President of Household Utensils Dealers Multi Purpose Co-operative Society (HUDMCS), Livinus Obiegonu, lamented the development, which he said was worrisome.

“This market is known as one of the most peaceful markets in Anambra State but this was shattered yesterday when these youths swooped on us.

“They reeked of alcohol as they began to puncture and deflate vehicle tyres and removing vehicle plate numbers.

“They said we should pay amounts, ranging from N3,000 to N12,000 but we told them that this market is a co-operative society. That was when they began to attack us.”

The Commissioner for Transport, Chike Ohamobi, confirmed that some contactors were given authority to collect revenue from heavy-duty vehicles.

But he said they have a strict code of conduct guiding their operations.

Ohamobi said nobody was authorised to enter any market for vehicle revenue collection.

The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Okpoko, Ogbaru Division, Emeka Ugwu, said he was on official leave but some police sources confirmed the incident.

Contrary to the rumour and media reports that two students of the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), Oyo, died during a protest on Wednesday, The Nation’s investigations have shown that no student was killed.

It was learnt that property worth millions of naira were destroyed and a mobile police sergeant was injured during the crisis.

A source said the property torched included a resource centre and cyber café, provost’s office, the college bookshop, lecture halls and porter’s lodge.

The source said the students, who wore masks during the protest, were armed with cutlasses, axes, diggers and carried jerry-cans of petrol. Workers ran as they approached the college.

It was also gathered that the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the college was allegedly robbed of an unspecified amount of money and his two mobile phones were stolen by the students after he was beaten and injured.

The source said the special anti-cultism unit of the students rescued the CSO from being killed.

“This prompted the college management to invite the police to quell the crisis.”

According to the source, the intervention of a combined team of the regular, special anti-robbery squad and anti-riot policemen led by the Area Commander and Assistant Commissioner Wale Olokode, saved the situation from degenerating.

Our source said the police restored peace and 40 students were arrested.

The Acting Provost, Mr. Oyewobi, described the protest as unjustified.

He said: “We have told the students that there is no plan to increase tuition fees. We suspect a fifth columnist in this baseless protest, otherwise why should students wear masks and carry weapons during a protest? No student died during the protest.”

The Area Police Commander also said nobody died. He said the students injured a policeman.

When our correspondent visited the college yesterday, it was shut.

Armed policemen from five divisions, including the special anti-robbery squad and an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) manned by mobile policemen, were stationed at the entrance of the college.