Rage of gun-wielding street hawkers …as fuel tanker goes up in flames

By Jimitota Onoyume, Port Harcourt

THE dust generated by these recent incidents had hardly died down when last week street hawkers on the ever-busy Port Harcourt-Aba road clashed with men of the Rivers State Task Force on Eradication of Street Trading. They reportedly snatched the rifle of a Police Corporal attached to the task force.

According to the state Police PRO, some of the hawkers had guns. Soon as disagreement ensued between the hawkers and the task force team, the armed hawkers allegedly started blazing away with their guns. Some persons reportedly sustained gunshot injuries and were rushed to a trauma centre. The snatched rifle was later recovered and handed back to the appropriate quarters.

The clash caused many to wonder if street trading should not be banned on busy roads in Port Harcourt; particularly given the claim that some of the hawkers hide guns inside their wares. Before the incident there had been claims by some motorists that some hawkers at the Garrison part of the Port Harcourt-Aba road forcefully entered their vehicles and threatened them with guns to part with money which they quickly did for fear of their lives.

While residents were still pondering on  how best to relate with street hawkers on major roads in the state capital, a petrol tanker spilled its supply at a bad spot on the portion of the Aba-Port Harcourt road close to Obigbo, causing havoc in the area.  Some persons sustained burns while several vehicles, including the tanker were razed by the inferno.

According to eye witnesses, the tanker  got to the bad spot that had already trapped two other tankers and in its bid to meander its way it got trapped too and suddenly it fell, spilling its content. Its exhaust, the sources said, hit an object which caused a spark that ignited the fire.  It took the intervention of fire fighters from Intels and the state government to save the situation from causing more havoc in the neighbourhood.

It could not be confirmed if the fire claimed any life. But what is certain was that the last two weeks was very eventful in the state.