Fear grips Onitsha residents as truck loaded with live bullets falls, spills contents

Palpable fear has taken over the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State, after a Mercedes Benz 911 model truck laden with cartons of live bullets skidded off the road in the early hours of Sunday and landed in a ditch, spilling its contents.

The incident occurred along the ever-busy Awka road while people where heading to church.

News Express learnt that the truck was moving the goods out of Onitsha to an undisclosed location when the driver lost control and the vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a gutter.

According to an eyewitness, “The truck fell around 5am. The driver and his conductor after sustaining minor injuries tried to evacuate and conceal the content of the truck but they could not do much before daybreak when some police operatives arrived the scene to discover the truck was laden with a consignment of live bullets.”

The policemen promptly called for backup and instantly arrested the truck driver while his conductor escaped.

The incident attracted heavy security presence to the Awka Road area and Shoprite axis of the city.

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, said he was not aware of the incident, but promised to revert back on confirmation of the incident.