A member of a local task force in Ogbogoro, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, simply identified as Osisi, has reportedly punched a 39-year old commercial tricycle operator, Esikak Esieme, to death over N200 ticket.
Trouble started on Thursday when the taskforce officials flagged down the tricycle driver to collect the daily levy.
The deceased was said to have told the task force team to allow him work more before he would pay because he was just coming out for business.
But his explanation was not acceptable to the task force officials and it led to an argument between him and them.
It was gathered that Osisi alleged to be a cultist started punching the tricycle driver until he slumped.
The tricycle driver’s colleagues reportedly tried to save his live as they rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Realizing the driver had died the task force officials were sais to have run away while the angry tricycle drivers temporally shut down operations and marched from Ogbogoro to a local Radio Station in Port Harcourt, to express their grievances and to demand justice for their late colleague.
Peeved by news of his passing, the tricycle drivers began a protest to express their grievances, saying the daily harassment and extortion they suffered from Osisi and his men was unbearable, even as they recounted the brawl that led to Esikak’s demise with bitterness.
Meanwhile, the President of the Tricycle Union in Ogbogoro Community, Ivumba Friday, has accused Osisi of tormenting them, describing him as a cultist and hoodlum.
He lamented that Osisi and his mates are fond of collecting illegal levies from the tricycle drivers, saying: “Nsikak Esieme was murdered this morning by one Osisi, a cultist that has been terrorizing Ogbogoro and our people on a daily basis. We have been reporting this matter to OSPAC, even to the police.
“Somebody should come and arrest this particular hoodlum that has been terrorizing keke people. The OSPAC will aid the Osisi in question to escape. Many times he used to break their windscreen in Ogbogoro.
“Our keke people are law-abiding and they pay their levies on a daily basis. Up till now that I speak to you, we don’t know the whereabouts of the corpse of our member that died.”
Also, the deceased’s elder brother, Lucky Esieme, who narrated how the incident happened, said: “When I left work to my house. I saw my younger brother’s wife in my house telling me that on the way he carried a passenger to Ogbogoro junction.
“Reaching there the task force people asked him to give them N200. He told them he just came out and that he hasn’t worked From there they hit my brother in the stomach.
“He fell down, and they rushed him to the hospital. Later they said they took him out of the hospital. Till now, I don’t know where his corpse is. I want to see my brother’s body and know how we will bury him.”