Commercial motorcyclists in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Wednesday staged a protest against an alleged extortion by policemen in the town.
Trouble started when some policemen stationed close to the SARS office along Oda road broke one of the commercial motorcyclists’ arms while dragging a seized motorcycle with the owner.
The passenger on the motorcycle also sustained varying degrees of injuries in an accident caused by the policemen.
Eyewitnesses said that one of the policemen was dragging a seized motorcycle with the owner while another one on top speed ran into them leading to an accident.
Immediately the accident occurred, police officers fled the scene which angered many of the Okada riders who had gathered at the scene.
They immediately rushed their injured colleagues and his two passengers who had sustained injuries on their head and legs to a nearby hospital.
The commercial motorcyclists mostly users of the Alagbaka/Oda/Igbatoro route barricaded the road linking Sijuade from Alagbaka Sijuade and disrupted traffic for over two hours.
They accused the policemen from Ala police station of always stationing themselves along the road and extorting money from them ranging from 50 to 100 naira per trip.
The situation was, however, brought under control through the intervention of some senior police officers from Oda division who promised to foot the medical bills of the wounded and repair the damaged motorcycle.
Speaking on the incident, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Barrister Tobi Ogunleye condemned extortion of innocent citizens by uniformed men under whatever guise.
Barrister Ogunleye, however, kicked against any act of taking laws into one’s hands, saying there were appropriate agencies of government to seek redress.
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