Youths in Ibi-Ade in Ogun Waterside council area on Thursday took to the streets in protest against police officers they said were responsible for the death on Wednesday night of a pregnant woman whom officers enforcing Covid-19 lockdown delayed from giving birth.
The youths threatened to burn down the divisional police headquarters in the town.
The woman, yet unidentified, was due for childbirth but police officers enforcing lockdown at a checkpoint stopped the motorcycle conveying her to hospital.
A witness said the woman was already bleeding but her ride was delayed for hours before the officers allowed the motorcyclist to continue.
She died shortly after arriving hospital from suspected blood loss, sparking outrage among the community’s youths.
The traditional ruler, Alarege of Ibi-Ade, Oba Kola Rahimi and some eminent personalities in the community helped pacify the youths.
A youth in the community, Festus Ogun, said, “The true situation is that, the woman was in labour and she was already bleeding profusely and being taken to the hospital.
“On the way to the hospital, the motorcycle carrying her was stopped by officers of the Nigeria Police Force, she was delayed for hours and it was that delay that led to her death.”
The spokesman of the Police Command, Abimbola Oyeyemi confirmed the incident, but absolved police officers of culpability in the woman’s death.
“The officers stopped them and asked questions; they said that the woman is bleeding, so the officers asked them to go to the hospital. About 10 or 15 minutes later, the woman died during labour. Maybe she had lost a lot of blood before they decide to take her to the hospital.
” She hasn’t even given birth before she died. So, those people came back and said that the policemen that stopped them at the checkpoint delayed them from getting to the hospital earlier, saying that they killed her. How is that possible?”
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