By Tola Gbadamosi

 The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ondo State Command, Mr Ezekiel SonAllah, has dismissed as fake, an online report that his men kicked a pregnant woman in the stomach along Akure highway on Saturday.

SonAllah dismissed the report in a statement made available to The Hope Metro on Sunday.

He made the disclosure in his reaction to a report shared on  Twitter that the pregnant woman, a passenger, bled after she was allegedly kicked by a road marshal on Saturday along Akure highway.

According to the sector commander, the woman was neither kicked nor manhandled as claimed.

He said the vehicle she boarded was overloaded and only forced to stop because the driver, who did not use seat belt refused to obey directive to stop, but attempted to run over two marshals.

SonAllah explained, “Two vehicles were coming from Ikeji in Osun State and heading to Ogbese in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State,  when the officials of FRSC stopped them.

“One of the drivers wangled his way and drove off, while the driver of the second vehicle also did not want to stop. He suddenly faced one Marshal Aboluja with the car in his attempt to escape.

“The driver also attempted to run over another marshal, Olamigoke, before the vehicle was forced to stop with the help of other team members.

“Immediately the vehicle stopped, the passengers came out and started wailing. On getting there, a particular woman alleged that she was hit, but nothing was wrong with the woman. No nose bleeding or any bleeding.”

The sector commander added that when the woman insisted that she was in pain, the marshals took her to a nearby hospital.

“It is not as people are painting it. Rather, it was Marshal Olamigoke who was injured on the ear.

“We had to call the Scorpion Squad of Nigeria Police to help calm the situation while the driver was arrested.

“We want to emphasize there is no such incident. We, therefore, use this medium to implore the general public to discountenance and disregard the fake rumour.

“We remain ever committed to maintaining safer motoring environment as we go on to discharge our lawful duties,” he said.

The Commander confirmed to The Hope Metro that he checked on the woman at the hospital to ensure she was fine.

“Because the life of an individual on the highway is our business, I had to go to the hospital to visit the woman and ensure she is medically fine.

“As I speak, the husband of the woman and her pastor is with me.

He advised that people to get adequate information before broadcasting it in any form.