Description

There was pandemonium in the Ogbogoro axis of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State on Thursday when a man attached to a task force allegedly punched a tricycle driver identified as Esikak Esieme to death following an argument over N200 ticket levy.

It was gathered that the taskforce officials had waved Esikak who was carrying a passenger to a stop and demanded the money, but the former explained that he had just begun business for the day and didn’t have the amount they requested yet.

An argument ensued immediately and in the process, one of the task force members who is alleged to be a cultist identified as ‘Osisi’ punched the 39-year-old keke driver who slumped.

Our correspondent gathered that some of the victim’s colleagues immediately rushed him to the hospital where they said he was pronounced dead.

Peeved by news of his passing, the tricycle drivers began a protest to express their grievances, saying the daily harassment and extortion they suffered from Osisi and his men was unbearable, even as they recounted the brawl that led to Esikak’s demise with bitterness.

The angry tricycle operators temporally shut down operations and marched from Ogbogoro to the complex of a popular Radio Station (Cool/Wazobia/Info FM) in Port Harcourt, demanding justice for their late colleague.

Speaking, the President of the Tricycle Union in Ogbogoro Community, Ivumba Friday, accused Osisi of being behind the incident, describing the latter as a ‘cultist’ and ‘hoodlum’ who has made life uncomfortable for the keke drivers.