Abuja Fire Service Station Destroy Over Okada Riders, Traders Clash

Harboursandport.com: Abuja - The Federal Fire Service in Dei Dei in Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT has been vandalized by rampaging youths following a violent clash between Hausa commercial motorcyclists popularly known as Okada Riders and Igbo building materials traders in the area.

 

Trouble was said to have started following the death of a middle-aged woman in an accident alleged to have been caused by the recklessness of a commercial motorcyclist conveying the deceased to her destination.

 

An eyewitness said "The Okada rider was very rough and he got the woman knocked off by a trailer. The woman later died while being conveyed to the hospital but before then, some traders had intercepted the okada rider who wanted to flee the scene.

The eyewitness noted that attempts by his colleagues to forcefully free him led to an altercation between them and the traders. All of a sudden, the riders started vandalizing and setting fire to shops", the eyewitness said.

 

In the ensuing fracas, some hoodlums were said to have invaded the Fire Station in the area, questioning why they did not stop some of the riders from burning the timber section of the market.

 

The station was vandalized and fire-fighting appliances were damaged by the hoodlums. While some operations staff reportedly battled to help put out the fire in some of the shops, some of those in the Administration Department were trapped in the office.

 

As of the time of filing this report, there was apprehension in some parts of Kubwa as the violence was said to have spread to Saburi, a town sandwiched between Kubwa and Dei Dei.