Mob butchers truck driver for crushing wedding guest

IrateYouths on Saturday evening smashed the head of a truck driver with a pestle after his truck crushed the head of a young man who was a guest at a traditional wedding ceremony in the area.

The truck which went to deliver PMS at Eddy Excel Filling Station located at No 50, Palm Street was driving out of the place after discharging the product when it crushed the head of one of Francis who was attending a traditional wedding taking place opposite the station prompting irate youths to chase after the driver when he tried to escape and smashed his head with a mortar pestle.

“The driver had finished discharging fuel and was driving out when I heard kup kup as he was trying to apply breaks to slow the truck down but the truck kept going and the wedding guests who were seated on one side of the road took to their heels but Francis did not see the truck early enough and it crushed his head”. A resident of the area who gave his name as Ndarake narrated to Vanguard .

He said the victim who was seated was trying to light a cigarette and did not see the truck early enough to make good his escape alongside others so the truck crushed him from behind spilling out his brain on the tar. “All we heard was kpoo and his brain was scattered on the road and when people saw what had happened, they went after the truck driver”.

After killing the driver, the mob went after the filling station and pulled down all the eight service pumps, ransacked the offices and destroyed the glass doors and windows. “They attempted to set the place ablaze but I appealed to them not to because my apartment is very close to the filling station and any fire will extend to all the houses around the neighbourhood”. He said

According to him, from the reaction of the mob, had the owner of the station, Edet Wawawa been within the place, he would have also been attacked because of the anger that less than a year the station began operation in the place, they have been five deaths .

“This station opened in November last year, and in December, armed robbers attacked the place and killed three persons residing within this street and now two persons have died so the people are very angry with him”.

When Vanguard visited the station, policemen in three Operation Skolombo trucks were seen guarding the place and one of them said they were dispatched by the Divisional Police Officer for the Atakpa Police Station at about 8 pm to the place and before their arrival, it had been ransacked by the mob.