A tipper truck has rammed into a moving tricycle, killing a mother and her suckling baby in the process in Delta.
The rider of the tricycle and one other occupant were said to have escaped death, but not without injuries.
The incident happened Wednesday afternoon at popular PTI junction, along busy East-West road, Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
The actual identities of the deceased were yet to be ascertained as of the time of filing the report.
Witnesses said the driver of the sand-laden tipper lorry rammed into the tricycle when he was trying to evade a Police van which was on the trail of the vehicle of some suspected internet frauds popularly called “yahoo yahoo boys.
The truck reportedly rammed into the moving tricycle when it (tricycle) was attempting to make a U-turn, perhaps to escape the gregarious harbinger of death.
Other sources claimed that it was the Police van loaded with policemen that hit the tricycle when it was pursuing the suspected ‘yahoo boys’.
The deceased mother and child died instantly, while the rider of the tricycle and another passenger, a woman, were said to have sustained injuries.
A tricycle operator, who declined being identified, disclosed that the deceased mother is a native of Agbarho community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.
It was further gathered that soldiers stationed around the vicinity swiftly rescued the erring security operatives from mob action as tempers rose.
The sympathizers were said to have rushed to the accident scene to salvage the situation as well as threatened to burn down the erring Police van.
The gathering mob was said to be chanting songs of solidarity, asking policemen to vacate the area.
It was further gathered that about two hours after the accident occurred, a police van reportedly from Ebrumede Police Station, was torched by the angry mob.
As of the time of filing the report, the corpses of the victims were still lying on a side of the DSC expressway, just as traffic had built up.
Perhaps to avert a repeat of the #ENDSARS bloody protest, soldiers from 3 Battalion, Nigerian Army, Effurun, which barracks is a few kilometres from the scene of the incident, had been drafted to cordon off the area.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), the Delta State Police Command, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, said the Police was still trying to unravel the cause of the accident.
“So we heard, but we are yet to get the details of what happened. We are yet to hear the exact thing that happened. We want to get to the bottom of it,” Onovwakpoyeya stated.
