Travellers stranded as drivers protest killing of driver,pregnant woman on Benin-Lagos road

Travellers and motorists plying the Benin-Lagos Expressway were stranded for over 10 hours yesterday in Edo State as commercial drivers and drivers of luxury buses protested the killing of a conductor and an expectant mother.

The protesters blocked the road at Okada Junction from 3 a.m, demanding increased presence of security personnel on the highway.The Nation reports .

Eyewitnesses said robbers blocked the highway at 1 a.m, robbed several vehicles and killed the two persons.


The killing of the bus conductor angered luxury bus drivers who blocked the highway.

They were joined by other commercial drivers.

A driver of Young Shall Grow bus with registration number (Lagos) AAA 283 XM, which was attacked, Mr Obika Orakwe, identified the slain conductor as Onyekwere.

He said: “We left Onitsha around 10:30 p.m. Armed robbers attacked us immediately after we left Benin, as we headed to Okada. We managed to escape and decided to park somewhere because the shooting was too much. We discovered the conductor of the bus had been killed. The hoodlums also robbed several vehicles close to where we parked, including Ezenwata bus and some small buses. They were shooting everywhere.”

A driver conveying Complete Sports, who gave his name simply as Ayinla, said the robbers took over the road as early as 1 a.m and killed the two persons on the spot.

He said the robbers operated without police intervention.