ANGRY youths in Kajola, a community in the Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, have blamed the police for the death of three persons, including the village head.
The deceased were identified as David Olowofeyekun, Gbenga Abayomi and Kola Akinduro, the head of the village.
Reports say the the three villagers were crushed by a vehicle at a police checkpoint along the Benin-Ore-Sagamu Expressway on Saturday evening.
The victims were said to be on a motorcycle when the police officers accosted them to demand a bribe.
A source explained that the refusal of the deceased to offer the bribe led to an argument between them and the policemen, who ordered them to park.
While on the road, a Hilux van hit them, and they died on the spot.
“They (the policemen) stopped the deceased at a checkpoint on Saturday evening, and while trying to halt an oncoming Hilux van, the driver manoeuvred to dodge the police and ran into the motorcycle.
“The Hilux driver crushed the three victims on the motorcycle where they were parking at the instruction of the police officer,” the source said.
Youths in the community on Sunday took to the streets to protest against the death of their kinsmen.
The youths dumped the three corpses at the Police Divisional Headquarters in Kajola, chanting solidarity songs to register their grievances.
The youths asked the police to leave the community.
They also accused policemen in the community of constant extortion
The source added that it took the intervention of the state’s Commissioner of Police Oyeyemi Oyediran, and other security chiefs in the state who arrived at the village on Sunday morning, to calm and appeal to the angry youths.
However, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Funmilayo Odunlami, told the Punch Newspaper that the victims flouted traffic law and, in the process, had an accident.
Odunlami said, “It was not due to the recklessness of the police officers. They (victims) rode against traffic and had an accident. So, there was no way the police could be reckless in a situation whereby there was a route to take, and they took another one. It was an oncoming vehicle that they collided with and killed them.”
A reporter with the ICIR
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