Posted by From TUNDE RAHEEM, Akure on
Hell was let loose on Thursday in the ancient city of Owo, Ondo State as irate youths and commercial bus drivers engaged policemen in a free for all fight, following the brutal killing of a driver by a policeman over N20 bribe.
Hell was let loose on Thursday in the ancient city of Owo, Ondo State as irate youths and commercial bus drivers engaged policemen in a free for all fight, following the brutal killing of a driver by a policeman over N20 bribe.
Two police stations were razed by the angry mob, while commercial activities in the city were paralysed for several hours.
The incident occurred at about 7am at Iyere junction along Isiogun Ute road, where a detachment of policemen usually mount road blocks.
According to eyewitness account, policemen stopped the driver of a white Toyota bus, marked ONDOXA630 -KAA and asked the driver, identified as Gbenga Ojuade aka Jogbo, "to settle" and he was said to have given the policeman a N20 note, which he (policemen) rejected, insisting on N200 because the bus was loaded with goods.
This, it was gathered, led to an argument between the driver and one of the policeman, who warned Ojuade to pay the amount or face the music.
The driver, it was learnt, was trying to explain to the policeman, when the cop pulled the trigger of his gun and shot the victim at close range.
The policemen immediately ran away after the shooting. They abandoned the driver in the pool of his blood.
When news of the brutal killings spread to Owo, Ojuade's hometown, his friends, relations and colleagues went on the rampage, mobilizing students and commercial drivers to police stations in the town. They burnt two police posts at Idasan and Ita-Oba in the heart of the city, while the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Ijebu -Owo narrowly escaped being burnt by the mob.
Policemen at other stations in the town, for fear of attack, abandoned their duty posts and went into hiding.
As at 4:30pm on Thursday, tension was high as the youths were bent on continuing hostility against the police until the driver's killer was produced.
Meanwhile, the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of operations in the state, Mr. Bodunde, who led other officers to Owo town on behalf of the commissioner of police, appealed to the youths to calm down, saying the accused policeman has been arrested and detained and would soon be prosecuted in the court.