Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Following the alleged killing of a commercial driver by a unit of the security agencies on Kaduna-Abuja highway on Friday, which led to heavy gridlock along the road, traders, as well as newspaper publishers, have recorded huge loss.
About 2.30pm on Friday, some daily newspapers were yet to arrive in Kaduna for distribution as against the usual 6 am street sales, leading to unsold copies.
“It is unfortunate that this thing happened like this. Look at the time, it is already afternoon, no newspapers have arrived in Kaduna, not to talk of taking them to the market. This is a big loss to us”. Mr. Sam, a salesman lamented.
Also, buyers and sellers of various goods during the early-morning market in Kaduna could not make it.
Our correspondent gathered that a driver of Peugeot brand of bus was shot by the operatives around Alheri camp, about 30 kilometers to Kaduna city, around 7:30 am.
An eyewitness said other commercial drivers who saw what happened decided to block both sides of the road, leading to several hours of gridlock to and fro Kaduna.
However, Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, posted on Facebook saying: “Kaduna-Abuja road gridlock around Olam Company, we are working and the road will be cleared in a jiffy.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Yakubu Sabo, told our correspondent, “we are working to get the facts of the matter. Just give us time to get to the root of this incident. But the road has been cleared, and there is movement in the area now”.
However, before the clearance, an eyewitness said no car was moving along the route as it was totally blocked, but that more security personnel were deployed to the place.