No fewer than 25 lives were lost while 15 others were seriously injured in a petrol tanker fire on Tuesday in Kwara State.

The incident occurred due to an accident at Peke village along the Oko-Olowo area on the Ilorin/Bode-Saadu/Jebba express road.

The accident involved a petrol tanker with registration number JJN 17 XW, a heavy-duty truck, and an 18-seater bus.

READ ALSO: Rivers Crisis: Call Wike To order, Ijaw Group Tells Tinubu

Eye witness accounts revealed that the petrol tanker which was travelling from Niger State, was driving on the wrong side of the road which resulted in a head-on collision with a heavy-duty truck from Lagos State.

The collision, it was further gathered, ignited a fire that rapidly consumed both vehicles and also affected the 18-seater bus which was also coming from Lagos.

The Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Stephen Dawulung, confirmed the accident to our correspondent on Wednesday, adding that he would provide the details later.

He said that some of the corpses recovered from the scene had been buried by their relatives.

The incident which was also confirmed by the Kwara State Director, Fire Service, Mr. John Falade, said that firemen responded to a fire at the village at about 3.18 p.m. on Tuesday.

READ ALSO: Tragedy As Ambulance Kills Three In Abia

“On November 28, 2023, around 15:18 hours, the Kwara State Fire Service responded to a fire at Peke village along Oko-Olowo Bode-Saadu Expressway in Moro Local Government Area, Kwara State.

“The firemen diligently worked to quench the inferno, but unfortunately, 25 lives were lost, and around 15 people were rescued with injuries,” he said.

Falade expressed deep sorrow over the incident that claimed many lives and stressed the need for road users to prioritise safe driving practices.

He also warned drivers and other road users to adhere to safety measures consistently when driving on the roads.

Youths on Wednesday took to the streets in Kurna quarters along Katsina Road in Kano to protest the killing of a teenager by police personnel.

The incident triggered tension amid an alleged planned protest by a political group against the judgment of the Appeal Court on the state governorship election.

It was gathered that trouble started in the early hours of Wednesday when some gangs of political thugs clashed, disrupting the peaceful atmosphere in the area.

It was alleged that the police personnel deployed to the scene of the incident embarked on sporadic shooting and the release of teargas canisters to disperse the thugs, which led to the killing of one person.

READ ALSO: Appeal Court: Police Arrest Seven Suspects Plotting Violence In Kano

The killing of the teenager, who was not part of the warring thugs, was said to have provoked the youth to embark on the protest.

The protesters were said to have blockes the ever-busy
Kano-Katsina-Daura highway for several hours, causing hardship to commuters and motorists who got stuck in the trouble zone.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abdullahai Haruna, confirmed the development, saying the command had since issued a statement regarding the matter.

READ ALSO: Boko Haram Members Behead 11 Loggers In Borno

According to him, the officer who fired the shots, killed the teenager and injured two others had been arrested.

“Already, the commissioner has ordered the arrest of the Inspector and constituted a board of inquiry under the leadership of Area Commander Dala to lead the preliminary investigation while assuring the public that justice will be served,* Haruna said.

Suspected Boko Haram members who were riding on camels have ambushed no fewer than 11 local wood-loggers and beheaded them.

The killing, The PUNCH gathered, occurred in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State.

A reliable source who works as a member of the vigilante group in the area and availed our correspondent with the information via the phone disclosed further that the incident occurred on Monday near Bale, a remote village in Damboa LGA.

According to the local vigilante source, the dismembered bodies of the victims were recovered at the scene around 5 pm.

READ ALSO: Court Fixes Date To Hear Suit On Leadership Crisis In Rivers Assembly

“We found six bodies of the wood loggers who were butchered by the Boko Haram people from the location on Monday evening.

“We do not think any of them survived the attack. Their bodies were badly dismembered, and we found them in a pool of blood as all parts of their bodies were cut into pieces.

“We immediately organised ourselves to bury what remains of them in the evening according to Islamic rites. Although five people are still missing, we are praying that those five should escape, and maybe when tension calms down, they will return to us to narrate what really happened. But for now, we don’t know if they escaped or were abducted too,” the source stated.

It was learnt from another member of the vigilante group that, “the loggers were working at their charcoal site when they were suddenly rounded up by the terrorists who refused all pleas for mercy from their victims but went ahead to kill the six persons instantly.”

He added, “We learnt that they came on camels and surrounded the victims. We saw the footprints of the carmels. We counted about 15 carmel foot prints.

READ ALSO: Tinubu Appoints New Board, Management Team For NNPCL [Full list]

“Although we learnt that some of the lucky loggers ran as fast as they could, though they were pursued by the l Boko Haram members.

“Why we also believe the others escaped is because carmels don’t run as fast as horses, and more importantly, the victims are familiar with the terrain; that’s why we’re praying that they escape.

“It was later, we were informed about the situation of things there that we mobilised and went to the scene only to find the six bodies dismembered and abandoned at the site but we haven’t heared from the other five persons.

“This morning, additional five bodies were recovered, so we have a total of 11 corpses so far. But the soldiers, alongside the vigilantes, are currently in the area and also combing the woods.”