Maiduguri, the Borno state capital is back in confusion again, away from the lingering Boko Haram insurgence, as Police officers were alleged to have opened fire on, and killed a member of the Keke-Napep (commercial Tricycle) rider and a passenger today. The killing of the two civilians has thrown the city into violence with members of the Keke-Napep union taking to the streets in protest.
The youth groups were said to have barricaded most of the roads in parts of the city even as they made bonfire, causing a lot of smokes to filled the air.
Soldiers were said to have continued to shoot into the air to disperse the protesters who mobilized themselves and were headed towards Dandal police station with the aim of attacking it.
An eye witness, Muhammadu Maduba said that the police officer shot the driver after his first shot missed him and killed the passenger sitting at the back of his vehicle.
“There was a road blockage around the West End area and the tricycle rider refused to heed to the order of the police man to turn back and take the other route, so the police man fired his gun while the tricycle rider and his passenger were trying to move on.
“But the bullet missed the driver and hit the passenger. Upon realizing that his passenger had been hit, the tricycle rider stopped and the policeman walked up to him and fire at him; the driver too slumped and died at once”.
Upon seeing what happened to their colleagues, other members of the Keke Napep riders Union rose up in protest and marched on the streets and burning tires.
Some of them headed towards the Dandal Divisional Headquarters of the Police force, making soldiers who were deployed to the area to begin to shoot into the air.
