By LILIAN U. OKORO

No fewer than five persons lost their lives in an accident which occurred at Ago Okota Palace Way, Lagos on Tuesday.

An eye witness, Mrs Uche Muoneke, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the accident occurred when two men attempted to take control of the steering of a Sienna car from its driver.

The eye witness also said that one of the men was in the Nigeria Police uniform, while the other was said to be a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official.

She said that the men were dragging the steering of the car with the driver of a private car when the accident occurred.

“The incident happened as a police officer was dragging the steering with the driver of a privately-owned Sienna car into Baywale street, Balogun bus stop, Ago.

“I saw the officer as he dragged the car steering with the driver who refused to stop.

“He dragged the steering with the driver till the car hit a Keke (commercial tricycle) driver carrying a pregnant woman with her two children.

“That was how the woman, her two children, the police officer and the keke driver lost their lives this morning (Tuesday).

“The victims were crushed by the car after which some other police officers rushed to the scene and started shooting sporadically,” she said.

Another eye witness, Sunday Orji, said that the police officers started firing tear gas to prevent people from coming near the scene of the accident.

Orji told NAN that other commercial tricycle drivers plying the route staged a protest over the incident.

He also said that the husband of the pregnant woman fainted on sighting the blood-soaked bodies of his wife and children.

Spokesperson of the Police Command in Lagos, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, who confirmed the incident, said that investigation into the incident had commenced.

Hundeyin could, however, not confirm the number of persons involved in the accident as well as those who lost their lives as at the time of filing this report, although he said that the situation had been put under control.

NAN reports that the incident resulted in heavy human and vehicular traffic around Ago Palace Way and its environ. (NAN, excluding headline)