Truck Drivers Block Okigwe-Umuahia Expressway Over Alleged Shooting Of Driver

Motorists were left stranded as truck drivers blocked Ofoeme Junction of the Umuahia-Okigwe axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, on Saturday to protest the alleged shooting of their colleague and his assistant driver by security agents.

The incident which occurred around 10:00 am caused heavy traffic jams as trucks blocked both lanes of the dual carriageway making it impossible for vehicles to come in or drive out of Umuahia towards Okigwe.

Some motorists driving out of Umuahia were observed reversing their vehicles and headed back to the capital city.

Those driving in from Okigwe were helplessly trapped at the scene as hundreds of trucks and other stranded vehicles occupied the entire expressway.

When contacted, the Commander, of Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC Abia State, Mr Paul Ugwu, said that when he got information about the incident he quickly dispatched his men to the scene.

He said that when his men led by the Head of Operations got to the scene the drivers told them that security operatives shot one of them and his assistant driver (‘conductor’).

According to him, the victims are receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital in Umuahia.

The FRSC boss said that he had contacted the Commissioner of Police, the Brigade Commander 14 Brigade Nigeria Army Ohafia as well as the Director of the Department of State Services, DSS, and informed them of the situation.

He said that military men had been deployed to the scene, and were still making efforts to pacify the truck drivers to see if they could agree to unblock the road.

The FRSC boss said he had equally called the Chairman of the National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO , for his possible intervention, but he had yet to pick his calls.

He told Vanguard that he heard that the incident occured around 10:00am.

Ugwu, however, said that he was yet to be told what led to the shooting, and the particular security agency responsible for the alleged shooting.

He appealed to the truck drivers to soft pedal no matter their provocation at least for the sake of other road users.

”The military is still engaging them to pacify them; and as soon as they agree to clear from the road my men will move in and do a thorough traffic control.”

He equally appealed to road users to exercise patience as efforts were being made to bring the situation under control.