Over 100 angry drivers have barricaded the Okene-Abuja highway in protest of the death of a conductor who was allegedly shot dead by a police for refusing to offer a bribe of N100 at a checkpoint in Ozara village in Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The protest started at about 10pm of Wednesday, January 20, 2016 and rolled over to Thursday, January 21, 2016.
One of the protesting truck drivers who identified himself simply as Bashiru said the trigger-happy policeman demanded a N100 bribe from the driver who directed his conductor to settle the officer.
However, the policeman became so infuriated when the conductor said he didn’t have the N100, so he reportedly ordered him out of the vehicle, and then shot him dead on the spot.
The truckers barricaded the only way linking North to West and Eastern parts of Nigeria.
“As at last count, more than a hundred truck drivers are participating in the protest on the Lagos Okene Abuja road,” one witness said.
Bashiru said he and his colleagues would not vacate the route until authorities decisive action stopping uniformed men on the road from collecting bribes.
Addressing the protesters on Thursday, January 21, 2016 the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Okene area said the killer-cop has been arrested and detained.
Meantime, the Kogi State police spokesperson had yet to confirm or dispel the reports as at pres time.
