No less than two persons sustained severe injuries on Friday in Umuahia, following an attack on a moving bus by members of the Umuahia North Local Government Area Task Force.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident happened at about 2.30 p.m in front of the Abia council secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) along Aba Road.
The situation which caused serious commotion, was however averted by the quick intervention of some armed policemen who rushed to the scene to take charge of the situation.
The policemen who arrested the bus driver and some members of the task force and took them to the Umuahia Railway Police Station.?
Mrs Precious Nwokocha, a passenger in the bus, said she boarded the bus to Ndioro in Ikwuano area at Isi Gate Umuahia.
She explained that some touts jumped into the moving bus in front of the council secretariat and started struggling for the steering wheel with the driver.?????
“It was quite frightening, and all we saw were about four men jump inside our bus dragging the steering wheel with the driver.
“While some of them demanded for his ticket, others asked him to drive the vehicle to the council’s headquarters.’’
Nwokocha said while this was going on, the vehicle skidded off the road, causing panic among the passengers.
“Some occupants had to jump out of the vehicle sustaining injuries, while others abandoned their luggage.
“It was while I attempted to jump out that my BlackBerry phone fell down and before I could notice it, one of the men had picked it and disappeared.’’
More than 50 commercial buses with their drivers and conducts were seen either impounded or detained within the premises of the council secretariat on Friday.
Gov. Theodore Orji of Abia recently warned against the activities of the illegal task force in Aba and Umuahia, noting that they were giving the state a bad image.
