Hit-and-run driver kills masquerader

THERE was outrage on Friday following the killing of a masquerader by a hit-and-run driver on Nwanniba Road, in the Use-Offot axis of Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

The driver was said to have attempted to avoid hitting another vehicle when he rammed into some masqueraders, their tenders and followers on the Nwanniba dual carriage way.

A witness said the ekpo (masquerader) was in the process of soliciting for cash and gifts from motorists and passersby on the busy road brandishing a cutlass and a whip when he was knocked down.

A resident of the area, Ukpe Eno, said he narrowly escaped being hit by taking a swift flight to safety but the masquerader was not lucky as he was taken by surprise owing to his mask.

“If not for God, I, too, would have become a dead man by now. The vehicle was on an unbelievable speed. The road is barely two lanes and cramping. It is not where somebody is supposed to drive at 60 kilometres per hour but you see people driving at 100-120kph.

“I think it is high time the government started marking roads in the state with appropriate speed limits,” he said.

The remains of the masquerader, whose identity could not be ascertained as of the time of this report, lay on the road, while other masqueraders, tenders, bystanders and followers gathered in shock.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Elkana Bala, said he saw the report of the incident on the social media, adding that he was yet to be officially briefed by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of the area.

To forestall any security breach during the Christmas and New Year celebrations, Bala said the state police command had deployed about 6,000 men on routine patrol across the state.

He warned that fireworks and other violent displays that usually characterise the season had been banned and urged parents to be at the vanguard of sustainable peace in the state by regulating the activities of their children and wards.