Protest in Onitsha, Nnewi as policeman kills bus driver

A 35-year-old commercial bus driver in Nnewi, Anambra State was yesterday shot dead by a trigger-happy mobile policeman attached to one of the new generation banks in the industrial city for allegedly picking a passenger in front of the bank.
The victim, Mr Nnamdi Anigbogu from Imezi Owa, Ezagu, Enugu State, who plied Nnewi-Onitsha route, according to eyewitnesses, was said to have stopped in front of the bank to pick a passenger, an action that angered the policemen guarding the bank.  Saturday Sun was told that the anger soon led to a chase of the driver by two of the police guards with a motorcycle until he (the driver) was double – crossed near St Mary’s Anglican Church Junction, Uruagu.
It was gathered that three tyres of the driver’s vehicle were allegedly deflated with bullets before he was shot at the forehead at a close range. The incident, which happened around 1.00pm caused traffic bottleneck leading to a protest by members of Onitsha/Nnewi Brothers Union (drivers’ union) who made bun fires along Ezemewi Road up to Nwanyi Imo Bus stop before they were dispersed by the police who later arrested the suspect and took him to the state police command headquarters, Awka.
The mobile policeman, who fired the lethal shot, it was learnt, only escaped mob action with the intervention of the police from the Area Command, Nnewi Central Police Station and Central Vigilance group in the town. Speaking on the incident, the chairman of Onitsha/Nnewi Brothers Union, Mr Aloysius Onu said all the union demanded was justice.
“The suspect must be charged for murder and the family of the deceased must be compensated,” Mr Onu said. We just want to halt our protest until we see the way the case is going to be handled.  If we are not satisfied with the way it is handled, we will not agree.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Awka, Mr Ralph Uzoigwe, who spoke with Saturday Sun on phone, confirmed the incident but said he was yet to get full details.