There was outrage in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Wednesday, as commercial motorcyclists, popularly called Okada riders, protested over the killing of their colleague by a policeman.
An unidentified policeman was said to have shot an Okada rider to death along the Arakale area of the state capital following the killing of one of them who was hit by a vehicle on every busy road.
A source explained that a woman had knocked down and killed one okada rider and a cocoa merchant and both men died on the spot, sparking a protest while commercial activities were temporarily disrupted in the area.
He said the policeman, who was attached to a filling station in the area, tried to rescue the driver of the vehicle, shot into the air in an attempt to disperse Okada riders protesting the killing of their colleague but hit another okada rider who died instantly.
The policeman who sensed the Okada riders might revolt against his action, reportedly fled the scene to the ‘A’ Division for refuge while the commercial motorcyclists chased him to the police station, demanding that the policeman should be handed over to them.
Irked by the action of the policemen at the station, the Okada riders mobilised in their hundreds to attack the station, chasing away policemen at the station.
An eyewitness disclosed that the protesters broke the gate to the police station, hurling stones into the station while policemen on duty left their post and members of their families at the barrack also ran away from their homes.
He said some policemen scaled the fence and ran away while others struggled to take their vehicles away from the barracks, while bonfires were set in front of the A Division, with Okada riders demanding for the policeman who killed their colleague or set the station ablaze
He said: “Some policemen scaled the fence and ran away, while others struggled to take their vehicles away from the barracks.
“Bonfires were set in front of the ‘A’ Division as the Okada riders demanded to see the policeman who shot dead one of their colleagues.”
The Ondo Police spokesman, Fumilayo Odunlami, who confirmed the development explained that the policeman who shot the okada man was mobbed and in an attempt to escape shot into the air and fled the scene.
She said the angry protesters later attacked the policeman who escaped from the scene with severe wounds.
“It was a road accident in which a woman driving a car hit and killed a commercial motorcyclist. Then a crowd gathered at the scene and was trying to mob the woman.
“The policeman then approached the scene to disperse the crowd and rescue the woman, but the angry crowd mobbed him.
“It was while he was trying to escape that he shot into the air and accidentally misfired.”
Odunlami said the policeman is presently admitted in an hospital, receiving treatment but said the situation had been brought under control while investigation into the incident had commenced.
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