Okada riders invade police station, seize officers’ phones
Commercial motorcyclists on Monday besieged a police station at Oka Akoko in Akoko Southwest Local Government Area of Ondo State, attacking policemen on sight.
Our reporter gathered that trouble started when the policemen allegedly shielded a hit-and-run driver, who accidentally rammed into a cyclist at the Epinmi road.
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His bike was said to have been damaged in the process.
The action, according to impeccable sources, forced the cyclists to storm the police station in anger.
One of the sources explained that the motorcyclists not only assaulted the policemen but seized the mobile phone of a senior officer at the station.
A senior police officer, who recounted his ordeal in the hands of the rampaging cyclists, said the aggrieved motorcyclists arrived at the station looking for the transporter involved in a crash with one of them.
“We received a call at the station about a fatal accident on Epinmi road and immediately swung into action. When we got there, we moved the affected victims to the hospital.
“Not long after, we saw a large crowd gathering at the front of the station, demanding to see the driver involved in the accident.
“As we were addressing the situation, they used sticks to beat our officers and snatched a phone. Despite our efforts to control the situation, there were about 100 of them at the station,” he said.
The monarch of the town, Oba Yusuf Adebori Adeleye, condemned the attack on the police station.
Reacting, the police spokesperson in the state, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, confirmed the incident but denied that the station was attacked by the aggrieved cyclists.
Ms Odunlami-Omisanya said the incident happened when a young man was involved in a fatal motor accident along Epinmi road, and he reported the incident at Oka Police Division.
“The accident involved his vehicle and a motorcyclist. Police officers from Oka Division proceeded to the scene of the incident and found the motorcyclist dead and the pillion injured.
“The corpse was moved to a morgue in Oka, and the injured person taken to the hospital for medical care.
“A group of motorcyclists who witnessed the incident followed the police back to the station, demanding the release of the driver involved in the accident.
“The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) declined their request, explaining the need for due legal process to be followed. After a productive dialogue, the motorcyclists dispersed peacefully,” she added.
