The Oyo State police command and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), in the state have reacted differently on the number of casualties involved in the accident, which involved a Toyota Hilux Van of FRSC and a Micra taxi in Ibadan, the state capital on Friday.
It was gathered that many people escaped death when FRSC officials engaged the Micra driver in a hot chase, resulting in the death of one person with others sustaining injuries. The FRSC van marked 1139 (3) and the Micra car with number plate Lagos 831 DH were badly damaged as they both plunged into a deep ditch.
An eyewitness stated that, “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 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 after they crashed. The Micra car summersaulted 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. Other four passengers in the car were critically injured when they pulled them out. Blood covered them all over.”
However, the police and the FRSC have different record of what happened.
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While the police command, Friday evening confirmed the death of one person, the state sector command of FRSC said on Saturday that nobody died in the accident which occurred on Friday.
Police spokesman, Olugbenga Fadeyi, on Friday told journalists that, “The incident happened in Akinyele Local Government. We gathered they had collision and both plunged into a ditch.
“One person, as at the time when the matter was reported, was confirmed dead.
“The hoodlums later attempted to seize the opportunity to foment trouble but the timely intervention of the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, nipped the matter in the bud”.
But, the State Command of the FRSC insisted that no life was lost in the incident.
FRSC Corps Education Officer, Seun Onijala, maintained that three persons were injured, while the remaining three persons were unhurt.
Onijala said, “Nobody died in the accident and I am telling you the true picture of what happened.
“The officials asked the Micra car to stop and the driver refused to do so and decided to turn the wheel of the car to the officials at the right and left side of the road with the aim of knocking them down.
“The FRSC officials were able to move away to the other side of road and the driver of the Micra car moved on and the patrol team van gave the Micra car a chase. In the process of the chase, a trailer was coming on the one way of the road and the option for the Micra car and the FRSC Van was either to both had an head-on-collision with the trailer or fall into the wide hole by the roadside.”
