An official of the Federal Road Safety Corps,( FRSC), Abia State sector command, has stabbed to death a commercial bus driver at Umuikaa junction, along the Aba – Umuahia section of the Enugu –Port Harcourt expressway.
This is happening few months after the FRSC officials also caused a naval rating to kill a driver who passed the FRSC checkpoint and refused to part with money.
A visit to the Umuikaa junction revealed that a naval checkpoint exists with the FRSC checkpoint who use hawkers to extort money from motorists. The hawkers report drivers who refuse to pay money to the naval ratings who usually arrest and delay such drivers.
Pointblanknews.com gathered that the FRSC official has stopped the bus driver and a disagreement ensued which degenerated to fighting. In the melee, the FRSC official who was joined by his colleague pulled a small knife and stabbed the bus driver on the chest and back regions.
Sources state that the bus driver lay in a pool of his blood and died before he could receive medical attention.
The situation caused tension in the area as angry youths stormed the FRSC office at the former toll plaza and set it on fire while the officials had fled before the arrival of the mob.
Pointblanknews.com further gathered that a crowd of sympathizers at the scene had forced the FRSC officials to take the driver to a nearby hospital in a bid to revive him. They however abandoned the corpse and fled when a doctor at the hospital confirmed him dead on arrival.
According to some shop owners in the area; “The FRSC people stopped the bus driver. The bus filled with passengers had ‘Jesus is the rock’ written on it. And the man parked his bus with passengers by the roadside. Nobody knew the cause of the disagreement between the bus driver and the FRSC people. What we saw was that they started fighting; another FRSC officer joined the fight. One of the officers brought out a small knife and stabbed the driver. There was too much blood and the driver died. When the FRSC saw that the man lay cold, they took him to the Ronald Hospital in Mkpuka, near the expressway where the doctors at the hospital confirmed dead on arrival. The bus driver actually died before he was taken to the hospital.
“The government should quickly dismantle the checkpoint at Umuikaa before the FRSC will kill more drivers. The FRSC people have 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 before he passed the checkpoint and refused to give bribe to them.”
Sector Commander, FRSC, Abia State, Paul Ugwu, who was contacted over the development, said he is yet to get the full details of the incident.
Chairman of Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area, Comrade Iyke Anyatonwu, condemned the unlawful activities of various security agencies operating at Umuikaa junction and added that the aim of bringing them to the area has been defeated as they have turned their checkpoints to toll gates to the detriment of the people they are paid to protect.
In a statement by his media aide, Enyinnaya Standhope Nwaigwe, the chairman 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.
