Protest rocked Uselu Community along the Benin-Lagos highway on Saturday morning as a motorist killed three sisters who were going to the New Benin Market.
Another female, who was accompanying the sisters to the market, was also killed.
The incident was said to have occurred at about 6:15am.
Driver of the BMW car and his wife were trapped inside the car which plunged into an open drainage along the road.
As at the time of filing this report, the identity of the driver was not yet known.
Reacting to the early morning tragedy, youths of Uselu Community took to the street and blocked the busy highway in protest.
The resultant rowdy situation was compounded by the fact that the road they blocked leads to the University of Benin where the closing ceremony of the 2019 National Festival for Arts and Culture was scheduled to take place.
Many guests going for the NAFEST closing ceremony had to take alternative routes.
An eye witness, Osas Ikpomwosa, said they woke up to find four dead bodies along the road. Osas stated that one of the victims was pregnant.
He said policemen came and rescued the trapped driver and his wife.
He however said they set bonfire on the road because policemen that came to disperse the protest allegedly shot live bullets at them.
According to him, four of the protesters were shot and taken away by the police.
โThis accident happened this morning around after 6, opposite Uselu Park involving four females, a man and a woman.
โOne of the bodies was inside the gutter. Others were across the road. It was a BMW car. Police came and rescued the man and his wife who was injured.
โThe police took the dead bodies away. They came back and told us they want to take over the situation. The police suddenly started shooting. The reason we blocked the road was because the police took away our person who they shot.โ
One of the youth leaders who gave his name as Evans Uselu Man said the state government must cover the drains.
โThis morning, four big girls were killed. They were waiting for bus when they came and hit them. They wanted to jump but because of the sand and side drains.โ
โWe will clear the road but government should return those boys they took away.โ
Edo Police spokesman, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, described the accident as unfortunate.
He said his men were on ground to restore peace and order.
