Youths Beat DPO As Bus Kills Two Persons in Ondo

James Sowole

Some youths of Ibule Soro and Ilara Mokin, in Ifedore Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo State yesterday beat a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) following the death of two members of the community who were allegedly crushed to death by a commercial bus .

The deceased were said to be on a motorcycle on the Ilesa - Akure Expressway when the 18- passenger Toyota commercial bus crushed them to death.

The eyewitness said the accident sparked off a protest by the youths of the community who reportedly set the bus ablaze and molested the security agencies around.

The protest disrupted traffic for several hours on the ever busy, Akure- Ilesha Road.

During the protest, the Divisional Police Officer in the town, Mr. Wole Ogodo was reportedly attacked and beaten while trying to calm the angry protesters .

“The two men who were indigenes of the town were crushed to death by the bus that was travelling to Lagos and this infuriated the people of the town because they believed the driver of the bus was reckless.

“They immediately organised a protest and burnt the bus and blocked the highway, they also attacked the security agents as the policemen were trying to stop them”, he said.

While many motorists were stranded on the road as the protest lasted, some took alternative routes to their various destinations. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, who confirmed the incident, alleged the protesters took laws into their hands but the men of the command still ensured that normalcy returned to the expressway.

“There was a fatal accident which claimed two lives but the people of the community were unruly as they burnt the vehicle and as the DPO was trying to prevent them from burning the vehicle, they overpowered him and seriously assulted him,” he said.