Outrage as toll collectors chase lorry driver to death in Anambra

A 25-year-old truck driver, Michael Chimezie, has plunged to death while trying to escape suspected revenue collectors along Asaba/Onitsha Expressway in Anambra State.

The deceased, an indigene of Oduma in Aninri LGA of Enugu State, was said to have lost control of his vehicle, a Mercedes Benz 911 lorry with Reg No ACA-178-XA loaded with timber, and crashed into a concrete barricade near Coca-Cola Market.

It was gathered that the crash left Chimezie unconscious and he was rushed to Toronto Hospital by Police Patrol team attached to Okpoko Division where he was confirmed dead on arrival by a medical doctor on duty.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Haruna Mohammed, said: “On 6/12/2020 at about 4am, there was a report of fatal motor vehicle accident along Asaba/Onitsha Expressway by Coca-Cola market Onitsha involving a Mercedes Benz 911 Lorry with Registration No ACA -178-XA loaded with timber and driven by one Micheal Chimezie Okorie ‘m’ aged 25 years of Oduma in Aninri LGA of Enugu State.

“The accident occurred when the truck driver who was allegedly being pursued by suspected “revenue collectors” stationed at Head Bridge Onitsha suddenly lost control and crashed into the concrete barricade near Coca-Cola Market.

“As a result, the driver of the lorry became unconscious and was rushed to Toronto Hospital by Police Patrol team attached to Okpoko Division where he was confirmed dead on arrival by a medical doctor on duty.”

While saying that corpse had been photographed and deposited at same hospital morgue for post-motem examination, Mohammed said that the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP John Abang, has ordered for a full scale investigation into the matter.

He added: “The CP further assures the public that perpetrators would be arrested and brought to book.”

According to Mohammed, following the incident, aggrieved youths in their hundreds went on rampage and blocked the highway, setting bonfires on the road, but were later persuaded to disperse through the joint efforts of the Police, Union leaders and State Government officials.