Petrol Tanker Drivers Protest Police Brutality On Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

Petrol Tanker Drivers Protest Police Brutality On Lagos-Ibadan Expressway - Movement of vehicles was obstructed Thursday on the busy Lagos/Ibadan expressway, Ogere-Remo axis in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria, as petroleum tanker drivers embarked on a protest by parking their trailers indiscriminately.

A policeman this morning shot the tyre of a trailer belonging to Oando Petroleum with registration number XC 405 TUD and demobilised the vehicle.

According to a source, the trigger happy policeman escaped from the scene after the shooting. Our source said eyewitnesses suspected that the policeman demanded money from the trailer driver.
The tanker drivers in protest parked their vehicles and blocked the expressway on both sides.
At about noon, officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, the police, men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and officials of Remo North Council area arrived the scene and appealed to the tanker drivers to allow sanity to prevail.

As at press time, the gridlock on the Lagos-bound lanes had eased as vehicles can move but there was no movement on the Lagos-Ibadan bound lanes.

In order to achieve truce, policemen officials had agreed to replace the damaged tyre of the trailer while the tanker drivers decided to repark their trailers and make the expressway passable.
Meanwhile, okada operators from neighbouring Ogere Remo are making brisk business as they stormed the area to carry passengers who were stranded at the Ogere-Remo end of the expressway.