THREE POLICEMEN DIED CHASING OKADA RIDER

Three mobile policemen were feared killed today while attempting to arrest a commercial bike rider along the Cement bus stop, Abeokuta Expressway. The accident, which happened a few minutes before 10am, was said to have caused a traffic jam.
Eye witness explained that the commercial bike rider, who had two passengers, was taking one way, heading to Oshodi, when a Rapid Response Squad (RRS), filled with mobile policemen, both inside the bus and the open roof back,  started chasing after them.
They were almost upon the bike rider, when the suddenly swerved to another path.
The police van driver was said to have lost control of his van and was attempting to control, when he suddenly applied the brake. But he still slammed into a faragone bus.
The sudden application of the brakes and impact on the commercial faragone bus, flung all the policemen off the back of the van.
One was said to have hit his forehead against the slab by the bridge, another used his chest to hit on the hard tarmac of the road, while another slammed onto the bridge, hitting his forehead and back head.
The bike rider was also said to have crashed to the ground with his passengers, but quickly got up. He and his passengers fled in different directions, abandoning the motorbike on the road.
Another eye witness, a trader, who was heading towards Lagos Island, who identified herself as Glory, said: “I saw two policemen down. They were dead. There was a third a policeman and he struggling on the ground.  There was also another wounded policeman on the ground, he was crying and shouting at the other policemen, who were in the passenger seat of the van to come down and assist them.
“He was begging his colleagues to step down and take them to hospital. Those ones appeared to be in shock. Their guns were scattered everywhere on the road.”
A bus conductor said: “It happened close to the Cement Bridge. One of the policemen used his chest to hit on the road. He was holding his chest. Another one used his front and back head to hit the bridge. Three among the policemen might not survive. I saw faragone bus on the scene and blood. There was also motorbike and a RRS van at the scene.”
At about 5pm, some policemen were sighted, wielding guns and carrying logs of woods. They stationed themselves on two sides of the road, heading to and fro Oshodi. Some commercial bike riders were along mangoro bus stop, keeping watchful eyes on the policemen.

Police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, said that the story that the policemen were chasing commercial bike rider was false.

She said: “The information you got is wrong. The policemen were actually responding to a distress. Their van was hit by a bus from behind and two policemen sustained minor injuries. They were taken to hospital and had since been discharged.”