Hell was let loose on Tuesday in Isibor Community, situated along the ever-busy Benin-Ugbowo-Lagos Expressway, Ovia North-East Local Government Area in Edo, as two persons were shot following a violent protest by some irate youths in the area.
The Nigerian Tribune learnt that the two victims of the protest allegedly staged by internet fraudsters, otherwise referred to as “Yahoo Boys,” are a 40-year-old tricycle spare parts dealer, identified as Mr. Lucky Akoda, and a police officer
Akoda, whose shop is located at the scene of the protest, was reportedly hit by a stray bullet allegedly fired by one of the officers at the scene, prompting the rampaging protesters to attack the police.
According to a source, the irate youths had embarked on a protest over alleged security agencies’ harassment and intimidation in their locality.
The source said that trouble started when some police officers and officials of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) raided the locality on Monday night.
He said that protesters, mainly young boys, took to the streets on Tuesday and caused tension in the area, leading to police intervention and sporadic shootings.
According to the source, the youths went berserk and destroyed a vehicle belonging to the security agent.
He said that the tricycle spare part dealers, who, according to him, opened for business on Tuesday morning, were hit by a stray bullet while attempting to lock up their store, apparently to run for safety.
The source disclosed that the two victims, Akoda and the police officer whose name could not be ascertained at the time of this report, were rushed to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for medical attention.
However, wife of the tricycle spare parts dealer, Mrs. Benedicta Akoda, was informed that her husband was rushed to UBTH after a stray bullet hit him.
The source told The Nigerian Tribune that when Benedicta, the victim’s wife, visited her husband at the hospital, the Police had chained/handcuffed her husband and victim of the protest to his sick bed, apparently holding him as a suspect following the protest.
She lamented that it was unfair for a man who was hit by a stray bullet and taken to the hospital by a good Samaritan to be arrested while being saved by doctors at the UBTH.
“The man who was hit by a stray bullet is now being held in his hospital bed, where he is receiving medical attention over a protest he had no knowledge about.
“His wife, Benedicta, has been pleading with the police and Nigerians to save her husband from dying.
“The man is a good Nigerian doing his legitimate business as a tricycle spare dealer in the locality.
“He is not into internet fraud, popularly called “Yahoo” or involved in the protest by the youths,” the source said.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that the Tuesday protest caused a serious traffic gridlock on the Ugbowo- Benin- Lagos road, thereby leaving road users and other motorists stranded for hours.