Students burn police station, vehicles in Ondo

Yinka Oladoyinbo, Akure - 24.03.2008

Students of a secondary school in Ode-Irele, Ondo State, have burnt down the police station in the town and two police vehicles following the killing of two of their colleagues by a patrol vehicle.

Three students of Oyenusi Memorial Grammar School, Ode-Irele, were said to have been hit by a patrol vehicle on the trail of a trailer being used for bunkering activities in the area last Thursday.
Two of the students, according to eyewitnesses, died on the spot, while the third was rushed to a hospital.

But sources told the Nigerian Tribune that the patrol vehicle, which was yet to catch up with the truck, lost control and rammed into the students, killing two and injuring the third.

The occupants were said to have fled the scene of the incident immediately and abandoned the vehicle. The students were said to have mobilised to the Divisional Headquarters of the police in Irele to protest to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO).

Sources, however, said the DPO could not pacify the students and later threatened to shoot at them if they did not leave the premises of the station.

The development was said to have irked the students who later dared the DPO and set the police station on fire. Two vehicles, the patrol vehicle and another newly-bought jeep, belonging to the DPO, were burnt by the mob, while the detainees in the station were set free.

Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Adeniran Aremu, said it was a case of accident. He said the driver of the patrol vehicle lost control due to a brake failure and rammed into the students.

Aremu, however, said only one student was killed, while another was injured in the incident. The police spokesperson added that the area was calm and people were going about their businesses.