Two injured during Police and NURTW clash in Ibadan
One policeman and a commercial driver have been injured during a clash between some members of National Union of Road Transport Workers and the police in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The two injured, as gathered, are in different hospitals where they were said to be responding to treatment, contrary to speculations that the commercial driver was beaten to death by the police.
It was gathered that the clash occurred at Felele Junction along the Lagos-lbadan Expressway. The commercial driver was said to have been driving his Micra cab on the highway when a police patrol vehicle surfaced behind him. As gathered, he did not clear off the road on time for the police vehicle to pass. In the process, a crash reportedly occurred between the police vehicle and the Micra cab.
The policemen allegedly stepped out of their vehicle and pounced on the commercial driver. The colleagues of the driver, sources said, also gathered and attacked the policemen, during which a policeman and the driver were injured.
Early today, tension was high in Ibadan based on speculations that the commercial driver gave up up the ghost and clashes between NURTW members and police were purportedly recorded at Felele, Soka and Iwo Road Roundabout in Ibadan. It was rumoured that there was exchange of gunfire between the transport workers and the police.
The Public Relations Officer of the Oyo State Police Command, Adekunle Ajisebutu who confirmed the incident denied the report that the driver is dead.
Also, the state's Chairman of NURTW, Alhaji Taofeek Oyerinde, in a telephone chat with our Correspondent confirmed that the commercial driver did not die, saying a team of NURTW officials had visited the driver in the hospital.
In another development, the Police also confirmed that 31 persons died while 11 others were injured in a motor accident that occurred around ibadan axis of the Lagos Ibadan Expressway.