No fewer than three riot policemen were on Wednesday feared dead when a Toyota pick-up van in the convoy of Vice-President Namadi Sambo knocked them down a few metres away from the unit where he and his wife, Amina, registered for the April elections.
The van, which belongs to the Kaduna State anti-crime outfit, Operation Yaki, was one of the vehicles attached to the vice-president’s convoy. Witnesses told THE PUNCH that the security vehicle, with registration number AH 468 MKR, was being driven by a policeman and reportedly lost control on Tafawa Balewa Road as Sambo’s convoy approached the Ribadu Crescent registration unit.
Our correspondent learnt that the three mobile policemen hit by the vehicle were among the security operatives posted along Tafawa Balewa Road to provide security cover for the vice-president. The witnesses further said the driver, simply identified as Sergeant Musa, struggled in vain to keep the van on track before he eventually rammed into the three riot policemen.
The injured policemen, who fell unconscious, remained still on the ground for some minutes until some of their colleagues carried them into a vehicle, which took them away to an unknown hospital for treatment. Blood was said to be gushing out of the ears of one of the injured policemen.
The Coordinator of the Operation Yaki outfit, Col. Dangana Mamman (retd.), who confirmed the incident to newsmen at the registration unit, said it was caused by brake failure. Also confirming the accident, the Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Mr. Aminu Lawan, said none of the injured policemen died.
Lawal added that the two injured policemen were currently responding to treatment, adding, “No fracture, no death. They were injured and are now responding to treatment.”
However, the vice-president and his wife, who arrived at 3.48pm for the exercise, registered at about 4.08pm and 4.14pm respectively. Sambo and his wife, who were accompanied by Kaduna State Governor, Mr. Patrick Yakowa, a retinue of their aides and security operatives, were registered by a corps member, Mr. Busayo Adebiyi.
The vice-president and his wife were listed as numbers 141 and 142 respectively on the voter register and were issued with cards numbered 90F5B03C19295452855 and 9075B031929553627. Speaking with newsmen shortly after registering, Sambo said the Federal Government was still waiting for a briefing from the Independent National Electoral Commission on the conduct of the exercise.
Sambo also assured corps members and other Nigerians participating in the exercise of adequate security and reiterated the commitment of President Goodluck Jonathan to the conduct of free and fair elections in April.
Sambo said, “I came to Kaduna this afternoon to do my civic duty of registering for the forthcoming elections. I’m also pleased that the process took less than four minutes and, therefore, the processes have improved. I have been reliably informed that the software for fingerprints has been replaced with a faster one and the corps members doing the exercise are now fully familiar with the system and it is going very fast.
“The Federal Executive Council did not review the exercise at its weekly meeting. We are waiting for a briefing from INEC and it will be a better review when we have a fuller council.”
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