Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, boiled on Monday as angry youths went on rampage to protest the shooting of a commercial driver and two of his passengers by a policeman attached to a local bank.
The trigger-happy policeman was on guard duty at a new generation bank at the Ekeki axis of the capital when the incident occurred.
He was said to have opened fire on a commercial bus belonging to a popular transport company in Yenagoa, Peace Mass, killing the victims on the spot.
According to an eyewitness who craved anonymity for ‘security reason’ said the yet-to-be-identified policeman, but who has since been arrested, allegedly boarded a commercial tricycle and bolted when the reality of the tragedy he brought donned on him.
The eyewitness said the killer cop shot fired the shot at close range and it reportedly pierced through the driver’s head and hit two other passengers, one of them suspected to be a member of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC.
Giving details, the eyewitness said the tragedy occurred opposite the Peace Mass transport terminus when the driver was trying to park so his passengers could alight from the bus.
The killer cop was reportedly miffed by the driver’s ‘audacity’ to park in front of the bank for his passengers to disembark before making a detour to enter the terminus. And he fired him.
“We were just in front of here when the policeman started the argument that led to the shooting,” the witness continued. “The argument was unnecessary because the driver was just trying to allow his passengers disembark the bus. I heard the driver telling the policeman that he would soon leave the place. But before we knew what was happening, the policeman cocked his gun and shot at him.
“He was lifeless. The bullet hit two other passengers, who were lying unconscious. It was an ugly sight. But the policeman immediately boarded a commercial tricycle and ran away.
“There are about three policemen guarding the bank, but this particular one has been troublesome. He is always aggressive and is always harassing and extorting money from commercial tricycles here.
“It is very disheartening. The bus came from Onitsha in Anambra State without problems only for this ugly incident to happen at its destination.”
News of the tragedy spread like bush fire in harmattan. And angry youths hit the streets to angrily protest the unnecessary bloodletting by the policeman. A part of the bank was damaged during the violent protest.
The police however arrived just on time to quell the riot.
The Public Relations Officer of the Bayelsa State Command, PPRO, Mr. Asinim Butswat, confirmed that the killer cop had been arrested and he is now telling detectives at the Criminal Investigation Department what he knows about the avoidable tragedy.
Asinim Butswat said a full report on the incident would be released to the public once the investigation is concluded.
