8 die, 30 injured in Anambra, Abuja auto crash, riot

Eight people have been feared dead in a road accident in Nkpor community of Anambra State and a riot which broke out in Dei-Dei area of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, yesterday.
In the Anambra mishap, three people were confirmed dead while eyewitnesses claimed five people were killed in a riot involving commercial motorcyclists and some residents. But the police said that no casualty was recorded in the Abuja mayhem.
Nigerian Pilot learnt that 30 others sustained various degrees of injuries when a 40-foot tanker loaded with gas had a brake failure on Nkpor Flyover Bridge, Idemili North Local Government Area and hit the pillars before catching fire.
The fire spread into the nearby market where the victims, who were mostly market women sustained various degrees of injuries.
Also, livestock, food items, clothes and other goods estimated at millions of naira were burnt.
About five vehicles were also touched by the raging fire. Traffic was immediately diverted to the other side of the highway as the incident occurred along the Enugu/Onitsha dual carriage way.
The Ogidi Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Mr. H. Musa and fire service officials were seen battling put out the inferno for hours.
Musa said: “I was there for about four hours battling the fire with others,” adding that “nobody died and those who were injured have been rushed to the Onitsha General Hospital and Borromeo.”
For several hours, violence raged in Dei-Dei, Bwari Area Council of Abuja when a commercial motorcyclist (Okada rider) knocked down a female trader.
Nigerian Pilot learnt that the heated argument which ensued led to a free-for-all among supporters of the cyclists and the injured woman. Over 35 vehicles were damaged, and five persons were allegedly killed.
The violence forced traders to hurriedly lock their shops and ran for safety while traffic flow were obstructed for several hours as commuters were denied access to their destination.
The FCT Command Police Public Relations Officer, Atene Daniel, told Nigerian Pilot that there was riot in Dei-Dei in early hours of yesterday, but said with the swift intervention of the men of the command, the situation was brought under control.
He said: “Contrary to reports in some online media, there was no loss of life in the riot. It was just a misunderstanding between an Okada man and a female trader in the market that led to a free-for-all. When it got to a certain level, our men (policemen) positioned in the market intervened and before you could say ‘jack’ the Okada man raised an alarm and his colleagues quickly gathered in solidarity.
“On getting the information, we dispatched our men for quick intervention, but before they could get there, the group of Okada riders had damaged five vehicles and a number of shops in the market, though we were able to arrest one person in connection with the riot. Our men have put the case under control,” Atene explained.