New Telegraph

Policemen flee as motorcyclists invade police station

Officers and men of the police attached to ‘A’ Division in Akure, the Ondo State capital, fled the station yesterday when aggrieved commercial motorcyclists popularly called Okada invaded the station over the killing of one of their colleagues. Policemen and their families jumped the fence in order to avoid the anger of the rampaging Okada riders who wanted to attack the police station over the alleged killing of an Okada rider by a policeman. The Okada riders broke into the gate leading to the police station and threw stones into the building while policemen and their families fled through the back gate to the adjoining streets. Some policemen scaled the fence and ran away while others struggled to take their vehicles away from the barracks.

The motorcyclists made bonfires in the front of the police station, preventing free flow of traffic for hours along the popular Oba Adesida road. An eye witness said that a driver had knocked down and killed one Okada rider and a cocoa merchant at Arakale area of Akure. Both men died on the spot, the development that sparked a protest by Okada riders. It was during the protest that a policeman attached to a filling station in the area was said to have fired shots in the air to scare the protesters away but one of the shot hit and killed another Okada rider.

The policeman reportedly fled to the A Division for refuge and was pursued to the station by other Okada riders. One of the protesters said they wanted the killer policeman released to them. One of the protesters said, “We want to see the policeman.

He is inside this A Division. A government car killed two persons at Arakale area and a policeman was shooting into the air and killed another bike man. We are angry.” Gunshots fired by the police angered the Okada riders who hauled stones and other objects into the station. An eyewitness said many policemen scaled the fence and ran away. The Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Fumilayo Odunlami, said she was yet to be briefed about the incident. She promised to get back to reporters once she got the full details.

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