Commercial bus drivers and sympathizers, yesterday, continued their protest against the killing of a bus driver, David Legbaraa, on Friday, by a policeman at Whimpy Junction in Obio Akpor local government area of Rivers State.
A policeman, identified as Sergeant James Imhalu, had allegedly shot dead the bus driver after ordering him to park from the road. It could not be confirmed if the driver did not comply with the order before the policeman opened fire.
The protesters barricaded the ever busy Ikwerre Road, yesterday, causing a gridlock that spilled over to the Rumuokoru portion of the East West Road.
They set disused tyres on fire at the Whimpy end of Ikwerre Road, denouncing the action of the policeman. The police battled for several hours to clear the road, firing tear gas.
Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ezike, condemned the action of the police sergeant, saying he had been arrested and full scale investigation was ongoing.
Continuing, the police chief expressed the fear that the protest, which started on Friday, may have been hijacked by cultists and hoodlums, appealing to the protesters to allow peace to reign.
It took an appeal from Governor Nyesom Wike to get the protesters to leave the road. The governor, who addressed them, assured that the killer-policeman will not go unpunished.
Meantime, the Commissioner of Police, Ezike, said he had briefed the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, on the incident even as he appealed to officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers to prevail on their members to calm down, assuring that the law would take its full course on the issue.
At press time, normalcy had started returning to the area.