A police inspector, yesterday, allegedly shot and injured two drivers in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, for refusing to offer bribes he demanded from them.
Our correspondent learnt that the incident happened at the Ibro Motor Park situated opposite Lokoja International Market.
The branch chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) of the Park, Ibrahim Yakubu, said trouble began when one of their drivers was stopped by a police team at a check point in Zango area on the Lokoja-Okene highway and asked to give them bribe but the driver refused to part with any money. He however said the policemen who were dissatisfied with the development, chased the driver to Ibro Motor Park area where he (driver) stopped his vehicle and ran to the park to seek refuge.
Yakubu said two of the policemen ran after him into the motor park, while the team leader, identified as Inspector Mohammed Usman, stayed back inside the driver’s vehicle.
“We told him that we are taking the vehicle to the park and he followed us inside. On getting to the union office at the motor park, we told him that we had already settled the matter with the other two policemen.
“Upon hearing that, he (Inspector Mohammed Usman) became furious and brought out his gun and first shot on the ground. As he continued his sporadic shooting, a bullet hit one of our drivers, Mohammed Attah on the leg while another driver, Emmanuel was hit in the stomach.”
When contacted, spokesman of the Kogi State Police Command, William Aya, who confirmed the incident, explained that the policemen who were on stop-and-search operation stopped the driver but he refused and as a result, they pursued him on suspicion that he might be carrying incriminating items.
Aya said that the driver got to town near a motor park and abandoned his vehicle by the roadside and ran into the park.
He said one of the policemen pursued the driver inside and in the process there was a misunderstanding between him and the transporters which led to accidental discharge. Aya said the policemen involved have been detained while the matter was being investigated by the State CID.
