Scenes from the protest and the victim in Akure
Okada riders in their hundreds on Wednesday, took to the streets of
Akure, the Ondo State capital, to protest the death of two siblings,
who were allegedly killed by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil
Defence Corps (NSCDC).
According to reports, the protest started at the State Specialist
Hospital Akure, where they went to pick the remains of the deceased, one
of who was identified as Yakubu.
It was gathered that as the commercial motorcyclists were
protesting, they broke bottles along the road and caused gridlock
throughout the time the protest lasted.
The protesters did not spare government and private vehicles as they used logs of wood to block the major roads.
Although different people gave different accounts of how the
incident occurred, it was learnt that patrol vehicle of the NSCDC
allegedly knocked down an Okada rider in Akure on Tuesday evening. This
led to a protest by the family of the deceased and motorcyclists.
It was in the process of the protest that a sister to the late
Okada rider was allegedly shot dead at Oja-Oba area of the metropolis
which sparked violent protest that led to burning of tyres on the
popular Oba-Adesida Road while free-flow of traffic was disrupted for
almost two hours.
The protesting women and commercial motorcyclists also hijacked one
of the task force vehicles which they used to carry the two corpses to
the Governor’s Office at Alagbaka-Akure. One of the corpses was in a
coffin while the other was left at the back of the vehicle.
The state Public Relations Officer of the NSCDC, Mr. Oladipo
Samuel, who confirmed the incident, said the civil defence officer who
killed the Okada rider on Tuesday was from the FCT Command. He, however,
denied that his officers killed the sister of the Okada.
As at the time of filing this report, the protesters were still at
the Governor’s Office and the free flow of traffic had returned to Oba
Adesida Road while security operatives were patrolling the state
capital.