There was pandemonium yesterday, in the Lokogoma Axis of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as commercial motorcycle riders popularly called Okada protested and burnt a section of an estate over the killing of a colleague and two passengers, by yet-to-be-identified driver.
Eyewitnesses said after knocking them down, the driver only highlighted to survey his vehicle without recourse to the health of the victims.
After sighting a mammoth crowd running towards him from the Sunnyvale Estate junction, he ran into Same Global Estate to evade being lynched.
The mob, who approached the gate of Same Global Estate asked the security personnel to hand over the driver to them but they refused, a situation that escalated leading to destruction of the security post and a section of a terrance complex.
It took the intervention of some police officers to quell the impasse. But dissatisfied with the situation, the group reportedly reinforced and came back at about 1 pm. They obstructed vehicular moment as they blocked the road, burnt tyres and pelted stones at the estate.
An eyewitness said: “The driver knocked down a commercial motorcyclist along the Sunnyvale road which leads to Kabusa village. Instead for him to help them, he only focused on his vehicle, a Mercedes Benz. Because of the severity of the accident the people died.“
When he saw that a group of motorcycle riders were running towards him, he veered speedily into Same Global Estate and the security guards immediately locked the gate. “Piqued by the situation, the victim’s colleagues asked the Estate guards to release the man to them. But they refused. So, they started throwing stones sticks at the estate guards. They destroyed the security post and a building.
“Efforts by the first tranche of police personnel to calm the situation did not work. The angry youth blocked the only way leading to Sunnyvale junction or Kabusa village.
“They burnt tyres and beat up anybody who tries to record their activities.”
“They had to runaway when they saw soldiers shooting sporadically in the air.”Another eyewitness who identified her as Emelda, said it was not the first time such an incident would be happening in the area because of the bad.
“What you saw today has been happening for a long time. Drivers have been knocking down people because of over speeding.
“Security personnel should station at the estate for at least a week because those boys would likely return to cause trouble,” she said.
As at press time, the alleged killer was yet to be found. But security personnel in their large numbers, had cordoned off the entire axis.
Credit: Daily Sun