Five officers in auto crash on way to rescue kidnapped firemen

It was a double tale of sadness for men of the Delta State Fire Service as officers on a rescue mission to secure the release of three of their colleagues reportedly kidnapped along the Benin Bye-pass on the Benin-Asaba Expressway in Edo State were involved in a fatal road crash.

The abductees were said to have regained freedom on Sunday, about a day after they were kidnapped. But their joy was cut short following the accident involving their colleagues who had gone to receive them where the kidnappers left them.

However, tragedy struck when the vehicle conveying the two officers dispatched to rescue the three officers reportedly abducted by unidentified gunmen crashed on their way back to Delta State on Monday night.

The Toyota Hilux Jeep reportedly lost a tyre near Issele-Uku on the Benin-Asaba expressway, somersaulting several times.

The victims were later rushed to the Asaba Specialist Hospital where they were responding well to treatment on Wednesday.

However, the Delta State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Ibrahim Abubakar, said that he was unaware of the incident as the crash was apparently not reported to the Issele-Uku unit of the command.

However, it was learnt that three officers of the State fire service were on their way to Lagos to “purchase of a welfare bus for staff” when they ran into the kidnappers in near Benin-City.

The sum of N5 million (five million naira) was allegedly paid to secure the release of the victims though no official confirmation of the ransom had come from the police at the time of filing the report last night.

Meanwhile, federal and state firefighters were mocked and nearly beaten up by passersby and sympathisers who accused them of arriving late to the scene of a fire at Shafa filling station Asaba on the Benin-Asaba expressway, on Tuesday.

Although, some angry sympathisers reportedly attacked the firefighters for arriving late to the scene, the fire was eventually extinguished before more damage could be done.

Although, the sight of the fire reportedly caused pandemonium with people running for safety, some staff of the station and good-spirited passersby helped in saving the situation and prevented the fire from spreading.

A worker in the filling station who did not want his name in print, revealed that the driver of a vehicle had accidentally dragged off the nuzzle of the dispensing pump while pulling out after buying petrol (PMS) causing a spark and a fire.

However, the Director, State Fire Service, Mr Eugene Ezewele, on Wednesday expressed gratitude to God that no life was lost in the incident and that the fire was quickly contained even before arrival of the state firefighters. (THISDAY)