Drivers, policemen clash over N300 bus fare

There was pandemonium in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, at the weekend, as some policemen engaged members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in a violent clash.

The clash, eye witnesses said, broke out following the refusal of a policeman to pay his N300 bus fare to the driver of a bus he boarded from Akure, the Ondo State capital, to Ado Ekiti.

Following the insistence of the driver that the policeman must pay his fare, the ensuing argument between them ended in fisticuffs, a situation which compelled the policeman to fire a shot, which shattered the rear windscreen of the bus.

The action of the policeman was said to have enraged fellow drivers who joined their colleague to attack him.

The policeman returned to the park some minutes later with other policemen who started shooting sporadically, causing pandemonium as drivers, passengers, residents and others scampered into safety.

Drivers who were not fortunate to escape had a raw deal in the hands of the policemen, a situation which forced the drivers to declare a total war against the police.

It took the intervention of the Special Assistant to Governor Kayode Fayemi on Internal Security, Mr. Deji Adesokan, to calm the drivers' nerves.