THREE suspects have been arrested for allegedly attempting to kill a policeman and setting a towing vehicle ablaze at an accident scene in Ogun State.
The incident occurred on Saturday, December 31, when the suspects – Olayiwola Basiru, Bamimore Isiaka and Soliu – allegedly attempted to kill the policeman and burn the police towing vehicle.
In a statement released on Monday, January 2, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said a police sergeant attached to the Traffic Section of the Owode Egba Divisional Headquarters, Akinpelu Sunday, was detailed to rescue the victims and recover the vehicles involved and move them to the station.
According to Oyeyemi, the hoodlums wanted to set the vehicle ablaze so as to prevent investigation into the cause of the accident.
He said the suspects attacked the policeman and the towing vehicle driver with a sledgehammer, stick and other dangerous weapons in order to prevent them from taking one of the vehicles involved to the station for further investigation.
“The policeman and the towing vehicle driver managed to escape from the scene and ran to the station with varying degrees of injuries,” he added.
“The Divisional Police Officer, Owode Egba division, CSP Olasunkanmi Popoola, when hinted, led his men to the place where he met the suspects who had already poured petrol on the towing vehicle and were about setting it ablaze after removing the cash sum of N520,000 belonging to the vehicle driver.
– Advertisement –
“Three among the hoodlums were arrested, while others escaped but the remaining petrol was recovered from them.”
The PPRO said the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered that those who escaped must be hunted down and brought to book.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in the society. You can shoot him a scoop via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.
