On Thursday in Akure, Ondo State
capital ,miscreants exchanged blows
over the sharing formular to be adopted
for the 11 cows crushed to death by a
luxurious bus.
The accident, according to Sunday
Vanguard investigation, occurred around
4am along the Akure-Owo expressway in
Akure.
No death was recorded or any passenger
wounded in the bus. But the sleep of
many of them was disrupted following
the accident.
Immediately the news of the accident
filtered to the miscreants they mobilised
themselves in their hundreds and the
invaded the scene as early as 5am.
Armed with knives and cutlasses, the
miscreants removed the dead cows
before day break.
Argument about where it would be safe
for them to carry the cows to for sharing
reportedly caused confusion..
It was later agreed that it should be 12 to
a cow and within few minutes they have
divided themselves into groups and each
group organised a vehicle to convey
their own ‘loot’.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that fight
broke out among the miscreants over
how many people will share the cows
and who should take which part of the
animals.
Eyewitness account said that the
luxurious bus, marked Anambra KPP
158XA, was coming from Abuja and
heading for Lagos when the accident
occurred at the Sebi Filling Station in
Akure along the expressway.
Immediately the accident occurred, the
herdsmen in charge of the cows
reportedly fled into the bush for fear
that they may be lynched.
It was gathered that two herdsmen were
with the over 25 cows when the crash
occurred.The younger herdsmen, it was
learnt, had allowed the cows to cross the
road without checking if it was cleared to
do so. Also, the driver and passengers in
the luxurious bus fled the scene thinking
that the Fulani herdmen may mobilise to
vent their anger on them.
It was learnt that the driver and the
passengers had to hide inside the bush
till day break.
Speaking with Sunday Vanguard, one of
the passenger of the bus, Rosemary
Nwachukwu, said the accident occurred
at about 4am on Thursday.
She said many of the passengers were
sleeping when the incident occurred.
“ When we suddenly saw cows on the
expressway, many of us that were awake
thought it was one of the antics of armed
robbers.
“ We later learnt that it was not armed
robbery attack but carelessness on the
party of the herdsmen who crossed the
cows without making sure that the
expressway was free of vehicles”.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the
driver of the bus on sighting the cows
crossing the road thought it was an
armed robbery attack. He was said to
have maneuvered the bus but the cows
were too many on the expressway hence
the number of the animals that were
killed instantly.
The sound of the crash reportedly
attracted the people living along the
expressway to the scene.
Many of the cows were reportedly
dragged off the expressway by travellers
plying the road.
A police officer at the scene of the
accident said it was discovered that the
herdsmen caused the accident by making
the cows to cross the expressway without
checking if it was free or not.
Meanwhile, the police image maker in
Ondo State, Wole Ogodo, said he was not
aware of the crash.
