Tragedy struck in Aba, Abia state on Tuesday when a truck driver was shot by a policeman as he was passing through the area where some commercial motorcycle riders at the Ogbor Hill allegedly engaged Policemen in a fight over alleged extortion.
Trouble was said to have started in the area when a team of policemen from the Ogbor Hill Division invaded the dilapidated spot of the Ikot Ekpene road at Ehere community where commercial motorcycle riders have converted to their loading bay, convey their passengers to different destinations in the hinterland and made to arrest them.
The motorcyclists were said to have resisted the move claiming that the area they are operating on was no longer accessible by motorists as the Aba —-Ikot Ekpene road have become impassable.
According to eyewitness accounts, a fight ensued as the policemen slapped one of the commercial motorcycle operators and this annoyed his members who insisted that nobody would be arrested.
One of the motorcyclists who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity after the incident said the policemen from Ogbor Hill division have been coming to them to collect their share of the daily takings.
“Police people from Azuka Police station come here daily to collect money from. We have been cooperating with them. But they are never satisfied, one or two of them will return later to collect money and arrest our members; this is why we resisted them. Even the man is not our member. The policeman wanted to shoot one of us , but the bullet hit the man as he was passing”
He blamed the shooting of the truck driver who was passing by as at the time of the incident on the attitude of one of the policemen who raised his gun in an attempt to cow the motorcycle, but the gun went off and hit the truck driver’s arm.
As at the time our correspondent visited the area, it was discovered that the motorcycle operators were still loading at the area as they remained the only means of transport to the local communities as the dilapidated nature of the Aba — Ikot Ekpene road has made it impossible for vehicles to ply the route which leads to Akwa Ibom state.
The injured truck driver is said to be receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in the city. Efforts to contact the Police Public Relations Officer of the Abia state Command did not yield fruit as his phone kept ringing without response before we went to press.
