Drivers Block East-West Road To Protest Killing Of Trailer Driver

The vital Eleme section of the East-West road was blocked for two days last weekend when drivers of articulated vehicles protested the killing of a driver at Alode Junction by people said to be community boys.
The protest, which began on Friday, February 23 lasted till Saturday evening when security agencies persuaded the drivers to free the road.
The gridlock caused by the protest stretched for about 11 kilometres from Onne Port complex to Akpajo Junction, trapping thousands of motorists and commuters that used the road on the two days.
Most of those trapped were travelers going to Akwa Ibom State, Andoni, Opobo, Gokana, Khana, Ogu, Okrika and Tai communities. Many of them were traveling for burials and other social occasions.
At Alode Junction, National Point was told that the killers of the driver, allegedly said to be on revenue drive, had flagged him down but he refused to stop. But they later caught up with him in the holdup at Alode Junction.
They then dragged him down from the truck and began to hit him with rocks got from the road construction site. In the melee, the driver collapsed and died on the spot. Two other of his colleagues who tried to save him were also injured by the boys, who took off as soon as they saw that the driver was immobile.
The protesting drivers vowed not to leave the road until the culprits who they said they believed were from the community were fished out and handed over to the police.
By 9am on Saturday, a team of policemen from Eleme Police Station arrived the junction to find out what was going on. The leader of the team called on the drivers to avail the team of any information they had that could lead the resolution of the situation. They later persuaded the drivers to unblock the road to free traffic. It could not be confirmed if the culprits were eventually apprehended.
Meanwhile, the reconstruction of the road is continuing despite the few rainfalls that occurred in the area. RCC, the contractors have excavated the road site up to GVC junction. The rock base of one side of the road has been done up to Refinery Junction and filling with sharp river sand is also going on.
Work on the bridges at Trailer Park and Aleto River were progressing. Demolition of structures that fall on the right of way of the road was also being carried out.