Traffic on the ever busy Ganaja road came to a halt when a scavenger and father of ten children and husband of three wives was allegedly killed by men of the Nigerian Police, C Division lokoja, Kogi State Command, over his refusal to give them N200.
An eye witness report disclosed that the men of the Nigerian Police who were on routine visit to the under the bridge site where the scavengers usually gather their wares for onward sale to interested buyers along 200 units, was allegedly shot twice after an argument with the scavenger over his refusal to part with the usual weekly stipends.
The police who according to an eye witness report said the police who usually visit the scavengers, are normally offered gratification, but were disappointed when the usual amount they are normally given could not be made available by the scavengers today.
All efforts according to the eye witness for the Police to understand that times are hard as they could not afford the usual, fell on deaf ears and an heated argument ensued which allegedly led to the killing of the scavenger who is said to hail from the northern part of Nigeria.
The death led to blockage of the ever busy Ganaja junction road, with the scavengers numbering over forty burning tyres and disrupting traffic.
It however took the intervention of men of the SAR’s to disperse the protesting youths who demanded justice over the death of their colleagues.
Angered by the deaths of their colleagues, the youths began the burning and pulling down of billboards of candidates of the PDP, mounted after the Dunamis bridge, heightened tension as motorists plying the route thought it was a political crisis, which made people scamper for safety and forced to make u-turn back to their destination.
As at time of sending the report, the Kogi State Police Command is yet to make comment as the CP is making efforts to address the press.
Efforts to reach the PPRO to confirm and comment on the matter proved abortive as his phones could not be reach.
