Uya Oro youths in Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State last week set a Nigeria Customs Service vehicle ablaze over the death of a cyclist and his two passengers.
Trouble started when officers of the Nigeria Customs Service chased after a vehicle that was conveying three bags of rice to be used in a funeral and shot at the vehicle’s tyre.
An eyewitness, Daniel Frank, narrated that the tyre which the customs operatives shot at, pulled out and hit a motorcycle which was on motion at the left side of the vehicle.
According to him, “the impact of the pulled tyre and the speed with which the cyclist was running at, pushed the motorcycle under the vehicle that was struggling to regain control from the pulled-out tyre”. He added that the cyclist and two of his passengers died instantly.
The eyewitness explained that the incident infuriated other cyclists, youths, and other residents, who mobilised and burnt the customs Toyota Hilux vehicle.
“Some people bought three bags of rice from Oron to prepare for a burial. When the customs operatives saw the rice, they tried to flag the driver down, and as the driver did not stop for them, they began to pursue him.
“As the chase continued, the customs operatives shot at one of the tyres of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the tyre they shot at, pulled out and hit the motorcycle that was struggling to overtake the vehicle. The pulled off tyre hit the motorcycle straight and the force threw it under the vehicle that smashed the three dead instantly. It was from there that other cyclists and youths decided to attack them, but they escaped leaving their vehicle that was set ablaze behind,” he said.
Intelligence Officer, NCS, Mr. Joseph Adi, confirmed the development. He said they heard of the incident but were in the Oron office.
His words, “It was this morning that I heard of what happened. Our office is at the water side in Oron. It was those standing at Uya Oro Junction, Federal Operation, I don’t think they are resident customs. The people called me this morning that the customs officers pursued one vehicle with their Toyota Hilux. They said the vehicle that they pursued hit a motorcycle. Since I was not there, there is little I can say about what happened.”
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