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11 burn to death in Ibadan-Ife road accident - Robbers kill manager, woman in bank raid From Tope Abiola and Yinka Oladoyinbo
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

NO fewer than 11 people were burned to death in an auto accident that happened at Balogun village on the Ife-Ibadan express road in Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State on Monday.



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The accident, which occurred around 6.30 a.m., involved a Peugeot Boxer bus said to be coming from Jos, Plateau State, and a trailer parked beside the road.

The bus hit the trailer and caught fire immediately and its passengers were burned to death.

When the Nigerian Tribune visited the scene of the accident, the remains of the passengers, including the driver of the bus were seen, while officials of the fire service from Osun State, police and members of the Road Safety were present.

Though, the number plate of the bus could not be seen, it was gathered that it belonged to the Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, while the trailer was owned by a Lagos-based transport company.

The accident caused traffic jams on the road as motorists were restricted to only one lane of the road.

In another development, two people, a manager of a first generation bank and a lady were killed during a robbery attack in Ode-Irele, Irele Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Monday.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the manager was killed in the banking hall, while the lady was gunned down during an attempt to scale the fence of the bank.

Eyewitness said the robbers, numbering about eight, invaded Ode-Irele town through the waterways in Akotogbo also in the local government area.

They were said to have entered the bank at about 9.00 a.m. and went straight into the banking hall, where activities were just picking up.

The robbers, who had easy access to the bank, were said to have ordered customers and members of staff of the bank to lie down.

It was gathered that one of the members of the gang spotted the manager and demanded for the key of the bank’s safe from him.

But the manager told the robbers that he was not with the key and that the person in possession of the key was not around.

The robbers were said to have been angered by the explanation and when he was not yielding, one of them shot him in the chest and he died instantly.

The other victim of the attack was said to have escaped from the banking hall and attempted to scale the fence of the bank when she was spotted by one of the robbers, who shot her in the process.

But the robbers were unsuccessful as the bullion van that had gone to bring the money meant for the salary of the workers of the local government had not returned when the robbers struck.

The robbers were said to have made away with what was left of the money paid to customers last weekend and the little money deposited before the invasion.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Adeniran Aremu, said the command had been informed about the incident.

He said the command was yet to be briefed on the details of the attack as at the time of filing this report.