Commercial Driver Sets Traffic Warden Ablaze In Edo

An unidentified commercial driver commonly called ‘tuke-tuke’, who was alleged to have committed a traffic offence on Friday, has set a personnel of the Edo State Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA), who was directed to take him and the vehicle to the EDSTMA office, on fire to protest his arrest.

It was gathered that the driver in a bus marked Osun FFE145XA had violated the traffic light at Adesuwa Junction along Sapele Road and when he was stopped by a traffic personnel, he resisted arrest.

Another personnel was, thereafter, directed to drive the vehicle to the office of EDTSMA and in the process, the driver stripped himself naked, took a keg of petrol from his vehicle, poured it on the EDTSMA official and set him ablaze.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the EDSTMA, Roland Owolabi, were not successful but a video on social with the pictures of the vehicle depicted the incident.

In the video, a personnel was heard saying: “The driver committed a traffic offence, and officers of Zone 2 Enforcement Team apprehended him and asked him to gently take the bus to the base but he refused.

“He resisted arrest and started fighting everyone. At the end of the day, one of the officers was asked to take the bus to the base, the driver brought out petrol, got himself naked, poured the petrol on the officer in the bus and set him ablaze. As we speak, the officer is receiving treatment in a hospital here in Benin City. The bus driver is on the run.”

He called on the public to release any information about the whereabouts of the bus driver or the owner of the bus to the EDSTMA office or report it to the nearest police station.