Protesting okada riders block road over k!lling of member (video)

Okada riders caused gridlock on Wednesday, Oct. 22, as they took to the streets to protest the k!lling of their colleague in Nasarawa State. A vigilante group member shot and k!lled an okada rider, named Ibrahim Tela. Confirming the incident, the Commander of the Nigeria Vigilante Group (VGN) in Karu Local Government, Lawal Ibrahim, said the incident occurred after a heated argument between okada riders and task force members who were collecting data from commercial motorcycle riders in the area. The VGN Commander stated, The okada rider was shot to de@th by a member of a factional group of the vigilante led by a person called Emmanuel as State Commander.  He added that the protest nearly led to the burning of the Karu Local Government Area secretariat before the situation was brought under control by security agencies. Videos shared online show teargas canisters being thrown to disperse the protesting commercial motorcyclists, aka okada riders. Corroborating the incident, Yahaya Jibrin, the State Chairman of Okada Riders, said his members had engaged in arguments with the Karu Local Government Area task force officials who were working on data capturing for proper identification of okada riders in the area.  The State Police Commands Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, also confirmed that the okada rider was k!lled with a locally made gun by the vigilante officer.  The information at my disposal states that today, at about 11.30am, commercial motorcyclists engaged in a heated argument with some vigilante operatives at New Nyanya Junction, and in the process, one of the vigilantes shot one Ibrahim Tela, 30 years old, with a locally fabricated gun.  The victim was rushed to the Medical Centre in Maraba, where he was certified de@d by a medical doctor on duty, Nansel said. Consequently, the commercial motorcyclists mobilised and blocked the Nasarawa-Abuja Road, but were dispersed by a team of police operatives in collaboration with sister security agencies. Nansel added that normalcy had returned to the area and efforts were underway to identify and arrest the vigilante who shot the okada rider for possible prosecution. See video below.  The post Protesting okada riders block road over k!lling of member (video) appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.