Date: 2018-08-19

A yet to be identified member of a Police patrol team was hit by an Abuja bound vehicle in the early hour of Saturday along the Oke-Onigbin-Omu-Aran Road in Kwara.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident happened around 5:30 a.m. near Eleyin Village, a suburb, when the team was on stop and search duty.

The vehicle involved in the accident was a Sienna with registration number DKA 718 YN.

The victim, a member of the patrol team tagged: "Operation Harmony", was said to have been rejected by a private hospital in Omu-Aran due to his critical condition.

He was immediately rushed to an undisclosed hospital in Ilorin for treatment.

The driver of the vehicle belonging to Royal Rider Transport Company was alleged to have escaped with the vehicle when the incident happened.

The company's inscription which was boldly written on the vehicle was revealed the identity of the company.

The driver was compelled by the company to go back to Omu-Aran when the company's head office was contacted in Ilorin.

At the time of this report the vehicle was parked at the front of the Omu-Aran Police Area Command office when NAN visited while officers in the command were seen discussing the unfortunate incident.

According to an eye witness account, the vehicle was on high speed when it was flagged down by the police patrol team.

"The Abuja bound vehicle was on high speed and only God knows what happened as he hit one of the patrol team members living him in a critical condition. "We saw the victim being rushed to a private hospital in the town in an unregistered Golf vehicle which was said to be his but was rejected by the hospital.

"We later learnt that the driver of the cab claimed to have mistaken the officers on patrol for armed robbers when he saw them from a distance," the anonymous witness said.

Mr Ajayi Okasanmi, the Kwara State Police Spokesperson, when contacted by NAN said he was yet to be briefed on the incident. (NAN)