Four policemen attached to the Ilesha-Baruba Divisional Police Headquarters in Kwara were on Wednesday killed in an accident involving a truck and a police patrol vehicle.

An eye-witness told the News Agency of Nigeria in Ilesha-Baruba that the truck was coming from Chikanda, a Nigeria-Benin Republic border community in the Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara.

The truck was carrying cattle that were to be sold at Ilesha Market on Thursday before it collided with the oncoming patrol van in the night.

NAN learnt that the truck, while trying to dodge a pothole in Ilesha collided with the van less than 10 minutes after it left the police station.

A source, who pleaded not to be named told NAN that the incident which happened around 9.15 p.m. resulted to three of the four policemen dying on the spot.

The source said it took up to three hours before the fourth officer, who later died on the way to hospital in Saki, Oyo State could be rescued because of the level of damage done to the police van.

“We had to make use of cutlasses, axes and other objects before we could remove him from the van because the truck had smashed it beyond repair,” the source said.

He told NAN that the truck and cattle had been impounded by the police.

Mr Ajayi Okasanmi, Police Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Police Command confirmed the incident..

Okasanmi said, however, that he was yet to be briefed on the number of casualties.

He said that the driver of the truck was yet to be arrested as he had fled the scene immediately after the accident.