A commercial driver Tuesday bite off finger of a member of the state taskforce team in Ebonyi state to escape arrest.
The driver did not just bite off the finger of the taskforce man identified as Iboko Kenneth but he equally swallowed it, Blueprint reports.
The incident occurred at Onuebonyi junction in Abakaliki metropolis when the state Ministry of Capital City Development and its taskforce team were inspecting the state capital to ensure that there were no illegal parks within the capital city after all the commercial transport companies relocated to a new park known as Akubaraoha Central park provided for them by the state government.
The driver was among those spotted at Onuebonyi junction who were illegally loading passengers but the taskforce member attempted to arrest him when he bite off his finger.
The victim, however has been taken to the emergency unit of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki(AE-FUTHA).
Speaking with journalists in Abakaliki, Commissioner for Capital City Development, Chief Onyekachi Nwebonyi, described the incident as terrible, unexpected and barbaric.
He said, “it is very unfortunate that a driver can attack a law officer who is trying to organize the state to the point of chopping off his finger, this is terrible, unexpected and it is barbaric. So, I want to plead with the motorists not to pull our legs because the taskforce are not weak and we do our job within the confides of the law but for a driver to chop-off a taskforce finger is unacceptable and I assure you that we will get to the root of the matter, it will not happen again.
“We are not using force but the problem is that our people are stubborn particularly the motorists, some of them anyway. But before them, I want to commend some of the transport companies for their cooperation so far that led to the peaceful relocation of the parks within the city to the central park known as Akubaraoha Abakaliki Central Park and if you go there now, the park is very peaceful, businesses are going on, no complain. As government, we are doing our best to fence the place and put internal roads and other social amenities.
“But we have discovered with dismay that some drivers are bent on operating from the streets instead of doing the needful and confirm the same 5qy joining their colleagues at the central park. My encounter with them this morning is an evidence to that assertion. Along water works road, behind the police checkpoints there, we saw over 10 buses loading Enugu and Onitsha.
“We also patrol to Onuebonyi junction, we also saw 11 trucks, buses, sienna buses loading there not minding our repeated warnings to that effect.”
The taskforce arrested five drivers for illegal loading. Nwebonyi said the arrested drivers will be arraigned in court.
