No fewer than five persons have been feared killed in Ilesha-Baruba in Baruten local government area of Kwara State on Friday while several others were severely injured during a bloody clash between Soldiers and Commercial Drivers.
CRIMESCHANNELS gathered that the Police Public Relations officer of the Kwara State Command, SP Ajayi Okasanmi, made the disclosure to journalist on Friday.
It was gathered that trouble started when Soldiers allegedly mounted roadblocks on the Ilesha-Baruba/Chikanda expressway, and were trying to extort commercial drivers plying the route.
According to a source who spoke to newsmen, a commercial driver coming from Sinawu market in the area, refused to pay a bribe of N200, allegedly demanded by the Soldiers on the road.
He said that the driver told the Soldiers that he had already given bribe on the morning of that day and therefore he won’t be paying anymore.
The source said that his refusal to pay the bribe angered the Soldier, to the extent the Soldier allegedly slapped the driver and ordered him to do frog jumps while his vehicle was seized.
The source also said, “Due to the development, members of the union followed the driver with the aim of talking to the Soldiers on his behalf.”
“This degenerated into unpleasant arguments, leading to the alleged shooting of some Drivers with 3 allegedly dying on the spot and 2 dying later from gunshot wounds.”
Meanwhile, the PPRO of kwara state command told newsmen that the Police is yet to ascertain the number of people injured, he however, said that investigation into the incident has commenced.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police has ordered a full-scale investigation into the crisis and we will communicate our findings very soon.”
“However, normalcy has been restored to the area with the deployment of men of the state command.”
