Commercial tricyclists, popularly called Keke NAPEP on Tuesday, August 26, 2014 caused commotion as they protested police extortion and growing excessive the use of force on highways after a pregnant woman was hit by a policeman along Azikoro Road, in Ekeki Area of Yenogoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
The policeman who was said to be an inspector, allegedly hit the pregnant woman in a bid to hit a Keke NAPEP driver with the butt after the commercial tricycle rider refused to give him a N50 bribe.
Although several security operatives said the inspectors actions as careless, they denied the allegations of the officer using the gun butt. This position is contrary to allegations by the protesters who claimed that the action of the inspector which had the pregnant woman bleeding excessively from her moouth.
Vanguard reports:
The victim, according to the protesters, was rushed to Glory Land Hospital.
Attempts by the protesters to barricade the premises of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) along the Azikoro Road was thwarted by armed policemen who fired tear gas.
The incident attracted the attention of newsmen who had gone to the NUJ to cover an assignment.
One of the protesting Keke Napep drivers described as unbecoming the activities of policemen at check points in the state capital.
He said: “This is a small state but the amount paid as bribe to policemen is exorbitant and fearful. Can you imagine we pay as much as N600 daily?
“It is wrong and criminal. Most of our passengers are embarrassed by these policemen at night. They extort us and some of the passengers. They call everyone criminal. This is wrong.”
Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Alex Akhigbe, said he was not aware of the incident.
