Irate mob made up
of commercial motorcycle operators, popularly known as Okada, yesterday
went on rampage in Effunrun, Uvwie local government area of Delta
State, burning down the Ebrumede Police Post and setting ablaze about
eight vehicles parked in the premises of the police post.
The mob’s action
also led to the release of some unidentified suspects detained in the
police cell over involvements in different crimes committed in the area
over a period of time.
Sources said that
the police were helpless when the mob besieged the station destroying
anything on sight. They fled the station when they sighted the surging
mob with all sorts of dangerous weapons.
Trouble was said to
have started when the Okada riders allegedly sighted a man who was shot
at the junction near the station, thinking he was one of their members.
The unidentified man was allegedly killed by the police purportedly
after snatching a hand bag and was fleeing the scene.
It was gathered
that the unknown suspect had boarded the Okada and was fleeing when
residents raised an alarm, which attracted the police at a checkpoint
close to the Ebrumede police post and immediately the police fired a
shot which killed the suspect instantly. The Okada riders, who did not
know what had transpired, invaded the nearby police post.
It was learnt that
the Ebrumede Police Station is, however, prone to attacks by mob over
the nefarious activities of the policemen at the station.
In late 2009, the
station was sacked after some policemen purportedly caused a ghastly
motor accident at the DSC roundabout, resulting in the death of six
market women while the police tried to extort money from petroleum
tankers in motion. The incident had triggered protests and partial
burning of the station.
The residents, who
decried the inability of the police to curtail the incessant invasion
of the station by mob of the station, however, called for the scrapping
of the station.
The chairman of the
council area, Mr. Peter Abugewa, who confirmed the incident, condemned
the unwarranted act by the Okada riders who invaded the station without
getting their fact right.
