Posted by Two people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in an accident on Tuesday in the Ago Palace Way, Okota area, according to the Police Command in Lagos State.
SP Benjamin Hundeyin, the command’s spokesman, verified the number to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
A pregnant woman and her tricycle driver were killed, he added.
According to Hundeyin, three other people, including a police officer, were critically hurt and were being treated at a nearby hospital.
The officer, who was part of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), was severely battered by an irate mob, he added, and was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
“The mob attacked the hospital and the injured policeman was evacuated to another facility for treatment and safety,” he explained.
The command has began investigating the incident, but the spokesperson stated no arrests had been made.
According to reports by NAN, the crash happened when a police officer and a LASTMA employee tried to take the wheel of a Sienna away from the driver.
A witness also reported seeing the police officer tug the steering wheel with the driver of the automobile as they entered Wale Street, Balogun Bus Stop, Ago Palace Way, Okota.
The cop was dragging the car’s steering wheel with the defiant driver, and I saw it.
The driver was dragged along until the automobile crashed with a commercial tricycle driver (often referred to as a Keke) who was transporting a pregnant woman and her two young children.
The mom, her two children, and the keke driver all tragically perished in that accident this morning.
“The car crushed the victims and some other police officers rushed to the scene and started shooting sporadically,” the insider explained.
In the meantime, a statement released by LASTMA explains that the collision occurred when a motorist was pulled over for obstructing traffic.
According to Mr. Adebayo Taofiq, the LASTMA spokesperson, a tricycle driver and a pregnant woman were killed, and two schoolchildren were injured.
Mr. Hassan Kehinde, the zone 27 Okota traffic officer in charge of the patrol squad, was quoted by Taofiq as saying that he had pulled over a blue Toyota Sienna with the registration number AKD 944 HN for going the wrong way on Ago Palace Way.
According to him, a police officer on the patrol squad offered to drive the car to the LASTMA headquarters so the driver could be properly booked.
The car’s driver was trying to get away when he took a detour down Bayo Oyewale Street at the Ago Roundabout and crashed with a fully loaded tricycle.
The tricycle driver passed away right away, while the pregnant mother passed away a while later at the hospital.
“And the two injured school children are currently in intensive care receiving medical attention,” he added.
According to the LASTMA spokeswoman, the police officers who were riding along in the illegal vehicle also suffered injuries.
The officer was prevented from being lynched thanks to the quick actions of a police patrol from the Ago/Okota/Ilasa Stations, he added, adding that the incident provoked protests.
He further said that the LASTMA yard was broken into and that vehicles and other valuables were smashed.