Police chase 10 to death in Abuja - Survivors taken to National Hospital

Bankole Makinde, Abuja - 16.03.2008

About ten people lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident which occurred at about 10 a.m. along Olusegun Obasanjo Way, beside Bolingo Hotel in Abuja, yesterday.

One of the survivors confided in Sunday Tribune that the accident was caused by a team of patrolling policemen who gave the driver of the 14-seater bus a hot chase for contravening traffic regulations.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Shinaba confirmed the accident.

He said that the survivors have been taken to the General Hospital in Abuja for treatment.

He, however, absolved the police of any involvement in the accident, saying that the driver of the vehicle might have lost control himself.

But eye witnesses told Sunday Tribune that immediately the accident occurred, the patrolling policemen turned back their vehicle and disappeared into thin air.

The driver who lost control while on top speed crashed the vehicle into one of the pillars used in demarcating the road.

Victims of the accident were later removed from the badly damaged vehicle and laid by the side of the road.

Mr. Shinaba, however, said that the actual number of death could not yet be ascertained.