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A devastating road traffic accident involving a commercial bus (popularly known as Faka SMK 823 YK), yesterday, claimed the lives of two occupants and left several others injured along Ballet inward Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.

According to an eyewitness, the incident, which occurred about 5p.m., was precipitated by an unknown private vehicle reversing on the main carriageway, an action that compelled the commercial minibus travelling at considerable speed to apply brake.

The sudden manoeuvre caused the vehicle to lose stability, overturn repeatedly and ultimately burst into flames in the process. The bus was conveying nine passengers.

Men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, who sped to the scene, revealed that the commercial bus driver was conveying a five-litre container of petrol in the vehicle. The highly inflammable substance ignited immediately following the crash, resulting in a severe fire outbreak.

“Tragically, the driver and a female passenger seated at the front burnt beyond recognition in the ensuing inferno,” LASTMA General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, stated.

According to Bakre-Oki, LASTMA operatives, who were on routine traffic surveillance within the axis, responded with commendable promptness and professionalism.

“Through swift intervention, they successfully rescued eight passengers from the wreckage before the fire intensified and immediately facilitated their evacuation to a nearby medical facility with the assistance of a public-spirited motorist,” he explained.

The accident scene was promptly secured with the support of the Divisional Traffic Officer, DTO, of Ilasa Police Division, who was on ground to ensure adequate security and traffic control. The accident led to gridlock in the axis.
The Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, in collaboration with Lagos State Ambulances Service, LASAMBUS, also responded to extinguish the fire and manage emergency rescue operations.

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An officer of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun, has told a Federal High Court Abuja, that he engaged in a gun battle with one of the attackers behind the June 5, 2022 massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, and later identified the man in court as the second defendant.

The witness, code-named SSG, an Assistant Commander with Amotekun and a resident of Owo, said he and his team encountered the fleeing attackers in the bush shortly after the church shooting, following intelligence from eyewitnesses.

According to SSG, he was initially responding to a separate kidnapping incident at Shagari Village in Owo when he received a call from his commander to abort the mission because an attack had just occurred at St. Francis Catholic Church.

Continuing his testimony, he said he saw spent AK-47 shells scattered on the ground, and inside the building, he met lifeless bodies of men, women and children, as well as several injured worshippers, when he got to the church.

He said the injured were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, while the corpses were deposited at St. Louis Hospital.

SSG told the court that he later gathered intelligence from a corn seller and a motorcycle rider, who said the assailants escaped in a blue Nissan vehicle towards the Achievers University axis along Ute Road.

He said his team chased the attackers and found the vehicle abandoned along the road at Ijebu area.

He noted that the vehicle was blue, with registration number AKR 895 AG. He added that they found sachet water inside the car.

The vehicle was taken to the Amotekun office in Owo, after which the team tracked the suspects’ footprints into the bush.

At a cocoa farm area, SSG said the trail became unclear, and while observing the surroundings, he noticed movement in a nearby bush.

“I saw the mouth of an AK-47 rifle pointed at me,” he said.

He explained that as he tried to respond with his pump-action gun, he realised it was on safety mode. After disengaging the safety, a gun battle ensued.

During the exchange, the witness said the other attackers escaped into the bush, while one hid behind a tree and shot the hunter accompanying the team, killing him on the spot.

He added that he was focused on evacuating the dead hunter to the mortuary at FMC, Owo.

SSG was asked in court to identify the person he saw during the shootout. He pointed at the second defendant and reaffirmed his identification during cross-examination.

He said the suspect was later arrested through the joint efforts of the police, civil defence, the DSS and other security agencies.

The witness also identified photographs of the recovered vehicle and told the court that the car is still in the custody of security agencies.

Earlier, a pathologist, code-named SSF, testified that he conducted post-mortem examinations on victims of the Owo church attack in June 2022.

He said he was invited by the Ondo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Awo Ajaka, and carried out the autopsies in Owo.

SSF told the court that all the bodies examined showed multiple gunshot injuries from firearms fired from different directions, leading to massive internal bleeding and death.

He identified several victims by name and body numbers in the forensic report tendered in evidence, and said the original copy was submitted to the Ondo State Government.

During cross-examination, he said he could not determine the exact type of gun or bullets used, explaining that he is a pathologist and not a ballistic expert.

The court upheld the prosecution’s objection, and the witness was discharged.

The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite Subsequently adjourned the case to February 11, for continuation of trial.

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Gunmen have kidnapped 15 travellers along the Utonkon–Okpoga Road in Benue State.

The travellers were in a bus, plying the road situated in Utonkon axis, Ado Local Government Area of the North-Central state, before the gunmen struck. The incident happened around 7 pm on Monday along the road linking Ado and Okpokwu local government areas of Benue State.

A youth leader in Utonkon district, Jude Onwe, narrated to Channels Television how the incident happened.

According to him, the commercial bus conveying 16 passengers was outward bound from Utonkon through Okpoga in Okpokwu local government area.

Onwe said the passengers departed from Iheijwo market, Oju Local Government Area, enroute to different destinations in South West Nigeria, before they were intercepted by the gunmen, who stopped the vehicle and forcefully took the passengers into the bush.

“The gunmen collected the passengers’ phones to prevent them from contacting their relatives,” he said, adding that the abandoned bus was later moved to the Utonkon police station.

According to the chairman of Oju Local Government Area, Jackson Ominyi, the incident involved sixteen persons. Two were killed, while two others were rescued.

Ominyi explained that the rescue of the two victims was achieved through a joint effort with the chairman of Okpokwu LGA, adding that security agencies were still searching for the remaining passengers.

However, the spokesman of the Benue State Police Command, Udeme Edet, said one traveller was killed while 15 others were kidnapped.

Edet said that the Benue |State Commissioner of Police, Ifeanyi Emenari, has again deployed a tactical team to pursue the perpetrators.

The incident came barely 48 hours ago after gunmen stormed Saint John’s Catholic Church, Ojije in the Utonkon district of the North Central state.

They kidnapped nine worshippers who were attending a church vigil. No arrest has been made yet.

Benue has been experiencing a series of attacks by non-state actors who kidnap people at will, kidnap others, and wreak havoc.

Despite the efforts of the state government and security agencies, the gunmen still maim innocent residents and travellers alike.