Policeman shoots driver over N20 bribe

Residents of Omi-Adio community, Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State on Wednesday protested against the shooting of a truck driver by a riot policeman for allegedly refusing to give him a N20 bribe.

Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that traders at the popular Omi-Adio Market hurriedly closed their shops when some aggrieved youths mobilised and marched to the police station in the area to register their grievances over what they described as  excesses of the policemen at the Omi-Adio checkpoint.

The truck driver, identified as Aminu Mudashiru, who was blood-soaked, was said to have been rushed to a private hospital at Apata for treatment.

At the time of filing this report, the aggrieved youths were going round the area in search of the policeman said to have fled along with his colleagues to avoid being lynched.

An eyewitness said the driver of a truck with number plate SG 137 BDJ was stopped at the roadblock by the policeman who later demanded money from him.

It was learnt that all entreaties by Mudashiru to the policeman fell on deaf ears.

The eyewitness  said, “While the driver was about parking his vehicle, the policeman shot him in his hand.”

Angry youths, who besieged the Apata Police Station, where the matter was reported, demanded that the policeman responsible for the shooting should be punished by the authorities.

It was learnt that the policeman had been detained.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Femi Okanlawon, said he had yet to recieve any signal on the incident.

He, however, assured that the matter would be confirmed, but did not.

A similar tragedy happened in the area a few years ago when a policeman reportedly killed a commercial driver for refusing to give him a N20 bribe at the same spot leading to a bloody clash between the police and enraged youths. The Omi-Adio Police Station was razed and some men killed.

THE PUNCH