An unidentified official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has allegedly hit and kicked a pregnant woman, along Ilesa-Akure-Owo road, leaving the woman bleeding before she was rushed to an hospital.
The incident caused tension in the area as some motorists stormed the scene of the incident, challenging FRSC officials while some commercial motorcyclists descended on the official.
According to an eye witness, the commercial bus conveying the pregnant woman was flagged down by the FRSC officials but said the driver noticed a petrol-laden trailer and another truck from behind and had to move from the spot to park his vehicle and give way to the two vehicles.
He explained that the driver, however, parked some few meters from the checkpoint, while the road safety officials who moved after him, dragged the driver out of the bus but the action of the FRSC officials infuriated the passengers and accused the FRSC of subjecting their lives to danger.
The passengers argued that the driver had done the right thing and should not be arrested but the FRSC officials claimed that the driver was only using the situation as cover-up, saying he did not use seat belt while driving.
An eyewitness said: “A pregnant woman who was in the bus was arguing with one of the officers and the officers pushed and kicked her and she fell on the ground and started bleeding.”
The eyewitness, however, commended the professional conduct of PRO of the FRSC who visited the scene and rushed the woman to the clinic for medical treatment.
One of the relatives of the victim who was in the commercial bus with her disclosed that the woman had lost two pregnancies in the past and they were coming from a church programme where they had gone to pray over her pregnancy.
She said that the driver was arrested by a team of security operatives from Anti-Scorpion who came to restore normalcy in the area after the pregnant woman was taken to the hospital.
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Meanwhile, the Commander of the FRSC in the state, Mr Ezekiel SonAllah, has denied the report that one of his officers kicked the pregnant woman in the stomach, leading to her bleeding during the incident but said the incident never happened.
The sector commander said the woman was neither kicked nor manhandled as claimed but explained that the vehicle she was traveling with was only forced to stop when the driver refused to obey the directive to stop.
He explained that the driver attempted to run over two marshals, claiming that the vehicle was overloaded and the driver did not use a seat belt.
According to him, two vehicles were coming from Ikeji in Osun State going to Ogbese in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo state when the officials of FRSC stopped them but one riggled his way and drove off.
He alleged that the driver attempted to escape before the vehicle was forced to stop with the help of other teams of road safety officials
“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 said that when the woman insisted that she was in pain, the marshals took her to a nearby hospital and said “It is not as people are painting it, rather it was one of the official that was injured on the ear.
“We had to call the Scorpion Squad of Nigeria Police to help calm the situation while the driver was arrested.
SonAllah in a statement issued by the Corps said “this is to notify the general public and well-meaning Nigerians that the information and news spreading through a Twitter about Federal Road Safety Officer in Akure kicking a woman on the stomach and blood was gushing out was fake and false, as no such incident nor a trace of it ever happened.
“We use this medium to pray the general public to discountenance disregard the fake rumour. We remain ever committed to maintain a safer motoring environment as we go on to discharge our lawful duties.”
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