Three wounded as volunteers, drivers clash in Benin

HELL was let loose in the Edo state capital of Benin, on Monday as suspected hoodlums violently attacked officials of the of Edo State Public Works volunteers (PUWOV).

In the mayhem which happened just by the popular tomato market at uptown Aduwawa, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, three of the volunteers were badly injured by the thugs.

A source, who simply gave his name as Nosa, said that the cause of the commotion was an attempt by the officials to arrest a commercial bus driver who was alleged to have picked up passengers at an unauthorised location.

He said that the driver of the vehicle had resisted the arrest before raising the alarm,  an action which attracted the attention of fellow drivers who rushed in to defend their colleague.

The hoodlums, who waded in on the side of the drivers, were said to have overpowered the volunteers assigned to patrol the area and savagely attacked the three officials with cutlasses and bottles,  just as sympathisers watched helplessly.

Over three vehicles were reportedly vandalised just as passengers were stranded during the incident.

Shop owners around the premises were not spared during the brawl before the intervention of policemen who fired gunshots to scare the suspected hoodlums from killing the injured who had been admitted to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

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The Edo State chairman of Public Works Guards, Mr. Muktar Osagie, disclosed that the situation would have degenerated to a bloodbath save for the timely intervention of policemen on patrol.

Osagie condemned the attacks, stressing the injured had been taken to hospital for treatment.

He linked the proscription of illegal revenue collections and illegal ticketing which had restored sanity to the state to the incessant attacks on his members.

Osagie vowed that no amount of threats and intimidation would deter his men from restoring discipline throughout the state to frustrate those bent on tearing the connective tissue of a decent society.

He commended the police for prompt intervention, adding that “if not for their timely intervention,  some of our men would have been dead”.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Johnson Kokumo, confirmed the arrest of some suspects in connection with the mayhem.

Kokumo lamented that it was a cause for concern that some members of the public would savagely attack people assisting the government to maintain law and order.