Tipper drivers block Abuja-Lokoja highway, accuse DPO of allegedly impounding truck
Heavy-duty trucks and tipper drivers blocked the highway along the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway to protest the alleged impoundment of their members’ trucks by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area. The protest, which occurred on Friday, at about 11:43 am led to the blocking of the ever-busy Abuja -Lokoja highway as the branch treasurer of […]
Heavy-duty trucks and tipper drivers blocked the highway along the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway to protest the alleged impoundment of their members’ trucks by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area.
The protest, which occurred on Friday, at about 11:43 am led to the blocking of the ever-busy Abuja -Lokoja highway as the branch treasurer of the heavy-duty trucks/tippers driver’s union in the area, Kasim M. Gana, said the tippers decided to block the highway after the DPO allegedly impounded their members’ trucks without committing any offence.
He said the truck driver was on his way to the bush to load timbers when the police at the checkpoint mounted in front of the police station flagged down the truck and allegedly forced the driver to park.
He alleged that the DPO asked the driver to pay N50,000 before the truck will be released, which he said prompted other tipper drivers to mobilize and blocked the highway.
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Gana, recalled how the DPO at the same checkpoint in front of the police station rushed out of his office and pursued one of the trucks drivers with the patrol Hilux van, in which he said led to scratching of the police Hilux two weeks ago.
According to him, the truck driver was coming with fully loaded timbers along Abaji -Toto Road, descending towards Abaji town when it suddenly had a break failure and pushed away drums used by the police to mouth the checkpoint.
The FCT police commissioner CP Ajao Saka Adewale, who spoke with our reporter through telephone while reacting the blockade of the highway, said “we are already on top of the situation,” he said.
He, however, lambasted the truck driver for driving without vehicle papers, even as he denied the allegation of demanding for N50,000 by the DPO before releasing the impounded truck.