Some officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps allegedly chased a commercial Micra car until it crashed, at Moniya, Ibadan, Akinyele Local Government area of Oyo State, leaving one person dead and four others critically injured.
Several Micra drivers who were wailing uncontrollably over the reported death of one of them identified as Akeem Ibrahim, had mobilised themselves against the FRSC officials. But the timely intervention of five Hilux police vans with scores of policemen checked the angry drivers.
According to an eyewitness, the FRSC van marked 1139(3) gave the Micra car with number plate Lagos 831 DH a hot chase after the driver refused to stop when it was stopped at a check point after Ojoo. “We saw how the FRSC officials were pursuing the unpainted commercial car. The officials were trying to overtake the car and in the process both of them plunged into this wide hole by the roadside”.
“We were told that the FRSC were chasing the car because it was not painted in the normal commercial colour. The passengers in the car were shouting and pleading with the officials not to risk their lives, but they did not heed their pleas.” “Like a movie, we just saw and heard a deafening noise when they crashed. The Micra car somersaulted before it crashed into the ditch followed by the FRSC van”. “The driver of the Micra car had stopped breathing by the time they carried him out. Other four passengers in the car were critically injured when they pulled them out. Blood covered them all over.”
One of the drivers who was weeping said, he was at the motor park when he received a call that one of our vehicles had crashed. “We got here now to see the extent of the crash. Why are these FRSC officials causing deaths instead of saving lives? To the amazement of the sympathizers, the FRSC officials who got there were just trying to cover the code on the car. “There is a number on the bonnet and the side of the door. They opened the bonnet and the car door to conceal the code. If they were right, would they be doing that?”, the eye witness said.
Within some minutes after the accident, the FRSC officials came to evacuate their van leaving the car it chased and forced into accident.
