There was pandemonium
in the commercial city of
Onitsha, Anambra State,
Thursday after a
policeman at one of the
checkpoints within the
city shot and killed a
commercial bus, Toyota
Hiace, driver, simply
identified as Edwin, for
allegedly refusing to part
with a N20 bribe.
The policeman alleged to
have killed the driver is
of Northern origin.
The incident raised
tension in the entire city
which has a volatile past,
as drivers and other
protesters trooped out
from different locations
and tried to attack non-
indigenes in Onitsha,
especially Northerners
over the death of the
driver.
The action was also said
to have sent shivers
down the spine of the
Hausa community across
the River Niger in Asaba,
Delta State.
But in order to forestall a
breakdown of law and
order, the Delta State
Government promptly
moved yesterday to
defuse speculations that
the panic caused by the
Onitsha incident had
threatened the peace in
Asaba.
The conductor of the
bus, with registration
number AA 768 AHD,
Samuel Ekwueme, who
also sustained gunshot
wounds, narrated that
the killer cop opened fire
on the bus in the process
of trying to extort N20,
also called ‘roger’ in
police parlance, from the
driver. It was gathered
that the deceased’s wife
gave birth to a baby boy
about a fortnight ago.
He said this happened at
a checkpoint mounted by
policemen at the junction
of Dennis Memorial
Grammar School (DMGS) in
Onitsha.
THISDAY gathered that
the bus had taken off
from the Nkpor junction
in nearby Idemili North
Local Government Area
where it loaded and was
heading to the Ose Main
Market, Onitsha when the
incident happened.
According to the
conductor, “The
policeman stopped my
Oga at the ABS junction
along Awka Road,
Onitsha, demanding N20
bribe and he beat the
checkpoint but as we
drove on to Ose Main
Market, he noticed that
the policeman had
mounted a commercial
motorcycle and followed
us.
“When he (the deceased)
noticed that the policeman
was following us, he tried
to drive against traffic
through New Market Road
but the same policeman
followed us and shot at
the tyre of the vehicle,
which prompted us to
stop, following which he
came to the door and
shot Edwin at close range
in the neck.”
One of the passengers,
who gave her name as
Ifeoma Obi, told THISDAY
that the deceased did not
do anything wrong to
warrant his being killed
like a fowl, adding: “It
was just sheer
wickedness on the part
of the policeman who
owing to N20 wasted this
young man’s life.”
She observed that when
the policeman first shot
at the tyres of the
vehicle, the deceased
driver could no longer
move, a situation she
said aided the killer cop
to shoot at him from close
range, shattering the
glass of the vehicle.
But the police authority,
however, has countered
that the incident occurred
when a riot police
corporal attached to
Police Mobile Force, PMF
52, on stop-and-search
duty at the DMGS junction
tried to stop the bus but
it refused and that the
deceased and his
conductor allegedly tried
to disarm the policeman.
The resultant extra-
judicial murder was said
to have incensed the
dead man’s driver
colleagues and others,
who interpreted the
slaying to have been
motivated by ethnic
sentiments, as the said
policeman that shot their
colleague is a Northern
officer.
Consequently, they went
on rampage, chasing
after and molesting any
Northerner in sight on
the grounds that the
policeman who killed the
driver is also a Hausa
man.
But the Northerners
promptly sought refuge
at the Central Police
Station in Onitsha and
other police stations
within the city. There was
however no casualty
recorded from the
spontaneous reaction of
other drivers who
protested the slaughter
of their colleague.
The situation also
escalated when an angry
mob descended on a
police team earlier
despatched by the
Anambra State
Commissioner of Police,
Mr. Muhtari Ibrahim, to
appeal to the rampaging
crowd. The officers,
however, were forced to
beat a retreat to avoid
escalation of the
situation.
The acting Area
Commander of Onitsha,
Mr. Rowland Omoteje, who
was accompanied by the
Divisional Police Officer,
DPO in charge of the CPS,
Mr. Abdul Yusuf, was not
spared the rage of the
protesters when they
arrived the scene, as the
angry mob pelted them
and it took a major effort
to rescue the DPO from
being lynched.
But at the River Niger
Bridge head area of
Onitsha, the DPO in
charge of the Fegge
Police Station, Mr. Tafida
Saleh, and his men were
on hand to protect
Northerners who ran to
the station for protection.
In his reaction, Movement
for the Actualisation of
the Sovereign State of
Biafra (MASSOB) leader,
Chief Ralph Uwazurike,
advised members of his
group not to attack any
Northerner in the South-
east but should dismantle
every police checkpoint
within the zone.
According to Uwazurike,
who spoke through his
second in command, Chief
Rommy Ezeonwuka, and
the MASSOB Director of
Information, Comrade
Uchenna Madu, the
dismantling of all police
checkpoints had become
imperative because the
security of Ndigbo was
no longer safe even in
their land.
“For an Hausa policeman
to shoot an Igbo driver
here because of a mere
N20 shows that the
policeman is a Boko
Haram member. But we
have urged MASSOB
members to leave Hausa
people alone because
they are not our problem,
they should concentrate
on dismantling all police
checkpoints within the
zone,” he said.
When contacted, the
state police commissioner
said the killer cop had
been arrested and would
soon undergo trial and
prosecution. He described
the incident as
unfortunate and
counselled the protesters
to exercise restraint as
efforts were in top gear
to settle the matter.
Meanwhile, the Delta
State Commissioner for
Informa-tion, Mr. Chike
Ogeah, moved promptly
yesterday to allay the
panic that had spread
across to Asaba in Delta
State.
In a statement Ogeah
said: “Earlier today,
there were reports of
disturbances among
traders in Onitsha, the
commercial city in
Anambra State,
separated only by the
River Niger from Asaba,
capital of Delta State.
“Reports had suggested
that a dispute between
traders from the
Northern part of the
country and their hosts
had turned violent. Some
of the traders are
believed to have crossed
the Niger Bridge into
Asaba to seek refuge.
“However, this situation
is being misrepresented
by sections of the media
to the effect that traders
of Northern extraction
were being attac-ked in
Asaba and Onitsha.
“While we may not be
able to account for the
precise nature of the
disturbance in Onitsha,
the traders that crossed
to Asaba did so in search
of refuge from the
disturbance.
“The Government of
Delta State hereby states
unequivocally that there
is no disturbance or
violence of any nature in
Asaba, the Delta State
capital. No trader or any
person of any ethnic or
religious group was
attacked in Asaba or,
indeed, any part of the
state today.”
He added that the state
Police Command had
deployed its personnel in
the area where the
traders were quartered
and no incident of
violence was recorded.
in the commercial city of
Onitsha, Anambra State,
Thursday after a
policeman at one of the
checkpoints within the
city shot and killed a
commercial bus, Toyota
Hiace, driver, simply
identified as Edwin, for
allegedly refusing to part
with a N20 bribe.
The policeman alleged to
have killed the driver is
of Northern origin.
The incident raised
tension in the entire city
which has a volatile past,
as drivers and other
protesters trooped out
from different locations
and tried to attack non-
indigenes in Onitsha,
especially Northerners
over the death of the
driver.
The action was also said
to have sent shivers
down the spine of the
Hausa community across
the River Niger in Asaba,
Delta State.
But in order to forestall a
breakdown of law and
order, the Delta State
Government promptly
moved yesterday to
defuse speculations that
the panic caused by the
Onitsha incident had
threatened the peace in
Asaba.
The conductor of the
bus, with registration
number AA 768 AHD,
Samuel Ekwueme, who
also sustained gunshot
wounds, narrated that
the killer cop opened fire
on the bus in the process
of trying to extort N20,
also called ‘roger’ in
police parlance, from the
driver. It was gathered
that the deceased’s wife
gave birth to a baby boy
about a fortnight ago.
He said this happened at
a checkpoint mounted by
policemen at the junction
of Dennis Memorial
Grammar School (DMGS) in
Onitsha.
THISDAY gathered that
the bus had taken off
from the Nkpor junction
in nearby Idemili North
Local Government Area
where it loaded and was
heading to the Ose Main
Market, Onitsha when the
incident happened.
According to the
conductor, “The
policeman stopped my
Oga at the ABS junction
along Awka Road,
Onitsha, demanding N20
bribe and he beat the
checkpoint but as we
drove on to Ose Main
Market, he noticed that
the policeman had
mounted a commercial
motorcycle and followed
us.
“When he (the deceased)
noticed that the policeman
was following us, he tried
to drive against traffic
through New Market Road
but the same policeman
followed us and shot at
the tyre of the vehicle,
which prompted us to
stop, following which he
came to the door and
shot Edwin at close range
in the neck.”
One of the passengers,
who gave her name as
Ifeoma Obi, told THISDAY
that the deceased did not
do anything wrong to
warrant his being killed
like a fowl, adding: “It
was just sheer
wickedness on the part
of the policeman who
owing to N20 wasted this
young man’s life.”
She observed that when
the policeman first shot
at the tyres of the
vehicle, the deceased
driver could no longer
move, a situation she
said aided the killer cop
to shoot at him from close
range, shattering the
glass of the vehicle.
But the police authority,
however, has countered
that the incident occurred
when a riot police
corporal attached to
Police Mobile Force, PMF
52, on stop-and-search
duty at the DMGS junction
tried to stop the bus but
it refused and that the
deceased and his
conductor allegedly tried
to disarm the policeman.
The resultant extra-
judicial murder was said
to have incensed the
dead man’s driver
colleagues and others,
who interpreted the
slaying to have been
motivated by ethnic
sentiments, as the said
policeman that shot their
colleague is a Northern
officer.
Consequently, they went
on rampage, chasing
after and molesting any
Northerner in sight on
the grounds that the
policeman who killed the
driver is also a Hausa
man.
But the Northerners
promptly sought refuge
at the Central Police
Station in Onitsha and
other police stations
within the city. There was
however no casualty
recorded from the
spontaneous reaction of
other drivers who
protested the slaughter
of their colleague.
The situation also
escalated when an angry
mob descended on a
police team earlier
despatched by the
Anambra State
Commissioner of Police,
Mr. Muhtari Ibrahim, to
appeal to the rampaging
crowd. The officers,
however, were forced to
beat a retreat to avoid
escalation of the
situation.
The acting Area
Commander of Onitsha,
Mr. Rowland Omoteje, who
was accompanied by the
Divisional Police Officer,
DPO in charge of the CPS,
Mr. Abdul Yusuf, was not
spared the rage of the
protesters when they
arrived the scene, as the
angry mob pelted them
and it took a major effort
to rescue the DPO from
being lynched.
But at the River Niger
Bridge head area of
Onitsha, the DPO in
charge of the Fegge
Police Station, Mr. Tafida
Saleh, and his men were
on hand to protect
Northerners who ran to
the station for protection.
In his reaction, Movement
for the Actualisation of
the Sovereign State of
Biafra (MASSOB) leader,
Chief Ralph Uwazurike,
advised members of his
group not to attack any
Northerner in the South-
east but should dismantle
every police checkpoint
within the zone.
According to Uwazurike,
who spoke through his
second in command, Chief
Rommy Ezeonwuka, and
the MASSOB Director of
Information, Comrade
Uchenna Madu, the
dismantling of all police
checkpoints had become
imperative because the
security of Ndigbo was
no longer safe even in
their land.
“For an Hausa policeman
to shoot an Igbo driver
here because of a mere
N20 shows that the
policeman is a Boko
Haram member. But we
have urged MASSOB
members to leave Hausa
people alone because
they are not our problem,
they should concentrate
on dismantling all police
checkpoints within the
zone,” he said.
When contacted, the
state police commissioner
said the killer cop had
been arrested and would
soon undergo trial and
prosecution. He described
the incident as
unfortunate and
counselled the protesters
to exercise restraint as
efforts were in top gear
to settle the matter.
Meanwhile, the Delta
State Commissioner for
Informa-tion, Mr. Chike
Ogeah, moved promptly
yesterday to allay the
panic that had spread
across to Asaba in Delta
State.
In a statement Ogeah
said: “Earlier today,
there were reports of
disturbances among
traders in Onitsha, the
commercial city in
Anambra State,
separated only by the
River Niger from Asaba,
capital of Delta State.
“Reports had suggested
that a dispute between
traders from the
Northern part of the
country and their hosts
had turned violent. Some
of the traders are
believed to have crossed
the Niger Bridge into
Asaba to seek refuge.
“However, this situation
is being misrepresented
by sections of the media
to the effect that traders
of Northern extraction
were being attac-ked in
Asaba and Onitsha.
“While we may not be
able to account for the
precise nature of the
disturbance in Onitsha,
the traders that crossed
to Asaba did so in search
of refuge from the
disturbance.
“The Government of
Delta State hereby states
unequivocally that there
is no disturbance or
violence of any nature in
Asaba, the Delta State
capital. No trader or any
person of any ethnic or
religious group was
attacked in Asaba or,
indeed, any part of the
state today.”
He added that the state
Police Command had
deployed its personnel in
the area where the
traders were quartered
and no incident of
violence was recorded.
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