By Ahmed Ajikobi
A policeman with the Kwara State command, Woriola Thompson was penultimate Saturday sent to his grave after he was hit by a commercial vehicle, Pilot Crime has learnt.
The incident was said to have happened along the Oke-Onigbin-Omu-Aran road, while the deceased policeman alongside his colleagues were on stop and search duty.
According to a police source, the commercial vehicle belonging to Royal Rider Transport Company, involved in the accident is a Sienna with registration number DKA 718 YN.The source added that the police patrol team, ‘Operation Harmony,’ had flagged down the vehicle, which was on high speed but the driver rather hit the policeman and refused to stop.
“The Abuja bound vehicle was on high speed and the driver hit a member of the police patrol team leaving him in critical condition.
“The victim was rushed to a private hospital in the town in an unregistered Golf vehicle but was rejected because of his condition and subsequently admitted into a hospital in Ilorin, where he gave up the ghost.
“It was later gathered that the driver of the commercial vehicle which had the inscription of Royal Rider, claimed to have mistaken the officers on patrol for armed robbers when he saw them from a distance,” the source added.
It was later gathered that the unnamed driver was, however, compelled by the management of the company to report himself at the police station.
“When the company got the news of the incident, the management compelled the driver to report himself at the Omu-Aran Area Police Command, where he was detained and the vehicle impounded.
When contacted on Saturday, the state Police Spokesman, DSP Ajayi Okasanmi, who confirmed the incident, said the driver hit the police officer while on his legal duty and ran away.
“The officer later gave up the ghost in the process of trying to save his life. The driver has been arrested and investigation is ongoing,” he added.
