FRSC backs officer who injured pregnant woman

An officer with the Federal Road Safety Corps, Monday Olamigoke, has been accused of kicking and injuring a pregnant woman during an argument at Ilesa-Akure-Owo highway in the Akure area of Ondo State.

It was gathered that after the alleged attack, which happened on Saturday, the pregnant woman bled and was rushed to a hospital for treatment.

It was learnt that several tests were conducted on the woman to ascertain if the pregnancy was still intact.

A video clip of the incident obtained by our correspondent showed the victim on the floor while people made attempts to revive her.

In the video, the accused FRSC officer was attacked by some commuters, who crowded the scene.

An eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said the pregnant woman was among passengers going to Owo from Osun State.

He noted that the FRSC officer forced her out of the bus on the claim that she was among the people who lashed out at him for stopping the vehicle.

He said, “The FRSC officers were not polite while doing their job and they were unable to manage the situation.

“Passengers got angry and lashed out at the FRSC officers because they were stopped in between trailers. The passengers were complaining about the risk and why they were forced to park when they knew that a trailer was coming.

“The officer dragged a woman out of the bus, and during the fracas, the officer mistakenly hit the woman; he kicked the woman and that was how the woman fell and slumped.

“An Okada rider who saw the whole situation got angry and slapped the officer. The woman did not do anything to deserve such treatment. I was there and I saw everything that transpired.”

The husband of the woman also confirmed that his wife was in a hospital.

He, however, said the general overseer of his church was trying to settle the issue amicably.

“I will speak with you later on the matter,” he added.

The Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, also confirmed the incident.

She said the police had commenced investigation and would soon reveal the details to the public.

However, the state Sector Commander of the FRSC, Ezekiel SonAllah, dismissed the report in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Akure.

According to the sector commander, the woman was neither kicked nor manhandled.

He said the vehicle she was in was forced to stop when the driver refused to obey directives to stop and attempted to run over two marshals.

SonAllah claimed that the vehicle was overloaded and the driver did not use his seat belt.

“Immediately the vehicle stopped, the passengers came out and started wailing. On getting there, a particular woman alleged that she was hit, but nothing was wrong with the woman; no nose bleeding or any bleeding,” he added.

The FRSC boss said when the woman insisted that she was in pain, the marshals took her to a nearby hospital.

“It is not as people are painting it; rather, it was Marshal Olamigoke who was injured in the ear.

“We had to call the Scorpion Squad of the Nigeria Police to help calm the situation while the driver was arrested,” he added.