A yet to be identified official of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, in Abia state, has killed a commercial bus driver at Umuikaa junction, Isiala Ngwa Local Government Area along the Enugu –Port Harcourt expressway.
The situation caused tension in the area as youths stormed the FRSC office in the area and set it ablaze.
Though details of the incident were sketchy, eyewitnesses disclosed that a disagreement had ensued between two FRSC officials and the bus driver, which led to a fight. In the confusion, one of the FRSC allegedly stabbed the driver on his back.
As the bus driver lay on a pool of blood, the FRSC officials took him to the Ronald Hospital, Mkpuka, where he was confirmed dead by doctors at the facility.
Sources at the hospital stated that the FRSC officials abandoned the corpse and fled.
According to the eyewitnesses; “The FRSC people stopped the bus driver. And the man parked his bus with the inscription ,Jesus is the rock, with passengers by the roadside. There was a disagreement and they started exchanging words and a fight broke out. Nobody actually knew why they were fighting but we saw the bus driver rolling on the ground with blood all over his body. People began to gather and he FRSC people took him to the hospital. The man was stabbed on his back and he actually died before he was taken to the hospital.
“The government should dismantle the checkpoint at Umuikaa junction before the FRSC will kill more drivers. The FRSC people has been using small boys who hawk goods to extort money from bus drivers and this has been causing problems. Last time, the same FRSC people caused a security agent to kill a driver at this Umuikaa junction.”
When contacted, Sector Commander , FRSC, Abia State, Mr. Paul Ugwu said he was yet to get the full details of the incident.
‘’We are yet to get the full details of the situation from our office at Umuikaa for us to be able to inform you better but we learnt that a driver was stabbed at Umuikaa,” he said.
However , Chairman of Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area, Chief Iyke Anyatonwu, who condemned the dastardly killing of the bus driver, lamented that the unlawful activities of various security agencies operating at Umuikaa junction have defeated the aim of bringing them to the area as they have turned their checkpoints to toll gates to the detriment of the people they are paid to protect.
Anyatonwu who spoke through his media aide, Enyinnaya Standhope Nwaigwe, urged the State Sector Commander of the FRSC to immediately investigate the matter and apprehend the perpetrators.
He also urged the youths of the area to remain calm and avoid taking laws into their own hands and assured that his government will ensure that those involved in the incident are brought to book.
