The Nigeria Police yesterday deployed over 11, 000
policemen to various parts of Ondo State
ahead of today’s governorship election,
with a warning that any policeman found wanting
would be punished. Speaking with
Saturday Sun in Akure yesterday, Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Mohammed Indabawa, who has been redeployed to Ondo State to supervise the election said
the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) and the Assistant Inspector
General of Police Zone X1 are also in the state to ensure that security is
intact and that a peaceful election is recorded in Ondo State.
He said three state commissioners of police are also heading security arrangement in each
of the three senatorial districts.
Indabawa said, in addition to the policemen being deployed, other security
agents, such as the Army, Navy and para-military organisations have
also been deployed, warning trouble
makers to leave the state, as their activities would not be condoned. He
appealed to the public to be law-abiding, saying they should allow peace to
reign during the election, adding that
all hands were on deck to ensure
peace and order. He said that the number of policemen deployed is enough to
cover all the polling booths as, according to him, the curfew imposed at the border of the state is to ensure that
hoodlums are not allowed to operate or bring in ammunition. .
The Sun
Pregnant woman, 32 others drown
A passenger coaster bus loaded with passengers
yesterday, ran-off a dual carriage bridge in Ogbere-Ijebu area of Ogun State
and plunged into the river, killing about 33 persons.
The vehicle, which was said to have left Lagos in the
early hours of the day, was heading towards Benin, the Edo State capital, for a
funeral when it crashed onto the popular J4 River between Ogbere-Ijebu and
Sagamu-Ore Expressway.
The Unit Commander, Ijebu-Ode Sector Commander of the
Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Seidu Isha Osilama, who confirmed the
incident, said it occurred at about mid-day. He added that among the survivors
of the unfortunate auto mishap was a pregnant woman whom he said hung on a tree
branch after bus plunged into the river. According to him, the FRSC officials
arrived the scene of the accident few minutes after it occurred and they were
able to rescue the three survivors because they fell off the bus and landed on
tree.
He added that the rescue effort would require crane
and divers to ascertain the location of the bus and the passengers inside the
water. Osilama lamented that it would be difficult to ascertain the true figure
of casualties, as they were still inside the river as the time he was speaking
with the press. His words: “No one knows the exact number of passengers in the
bus or the casualty figure, as they are still in the water. The casualties are
more than those who survived’’. Another FRSC official, who spoke with Saturday
Sun on condition of anonymity, said rescue operations were still on as at late
yesterday, causing heavy vehicular hold-up on the busy road.
He failed to disclose the immediate cause or causes of
the accident, saying: “What is paramount to us now is how to save lives, which,
to an extent, we have been able to do. “But I can tell you that the accident
occurred at Kilometre 56 Ijebu Ode-Ore road. Since it plunged into the river,
it made rescue operations difficult, but local divers were mobilized to search
the river to rescue survivors.”
A crane was said to have arrived the scene of the
accident from Omo Wood Industries to pull out the vehicle from the river. It
struggled from 12pm to 6.00p.m, but to no avail. Saturday Sun learnt that local
divers were also too tired to continue the search, while the crane was ordered
back to the office by 6.00p.m.
The Sun
No comments:
Post a Comment