A tragic incident unfolded over the weekend at Ogi Junction, located in Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State, where two truck drivers were brutally murdered by unidentified gunmen.
The attackers not only took the lives of the drivers but also set ablaze the truck, which was fully loaded with gari, as well as the victims’ bodies.
The gruesome event was confirmed by the Imo State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). According to union officials, the truck was en route from Ayangade to Port Harcourt when the ambush occurred.
Dahiru Musa, Chairman of the NURTW in Okigwe, provided more details. He explained that he promptly reported the attack to the appropriate security agencies, including the police and military. In response, security operatives, including the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Okigwe and a team of soldiers, visited the crime scene.
“After the incident, I accompanied the police to evacuate the corpses to a hospital,” Musa said. “On Monday, we performed funeral prayers for the deceased and laid them to rest.”
Speaking further on the incident, Mahmud Jafaru, the spokesperson for the NURTW Heavy Truck Unit at Laranto Motor Park in Jos, Plateau State, condemned the attack. He identified the slain drivers as Haruna Muhammad and Adamu Ibrahim. According to him, the drivers were murdered in broad daylight during their journey to Port Harcourt.
“This is not the first time something like this is happening,” Jafaru lamented. “Truck drivers from the North are increasingly becoming targets, and it seems as though their lives are worth less than those of others. They are attacked and killed indiscriminately. As a northern driver, one lives in constant fear until the truck safely reaches Port Harcourt.”
Jafaru criticized what he described as the lack of adequate response from government and security forces, emphasizing the urgency of the situation. He stressed that the trucking community has suffered immensely, with many drivers killed and trucks worth millions of naira destroyed in similar attacks.
“This carnage must end,” he urged. “We call on the government to intervene decisively and put an end to this unrelenting violence against innocent drivers who are simply doing their jobs.”
As of the time of this report, the Imo State Police Command has yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident.