From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Wife of the late bolt driver murdered by gunmen along Olu Obasanjo Road in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has demanded for justice for her husband, Emmanuel Daniel.
Late Daniel of E-Hailing Bolt was reportedly shot dead by three unidentified armed men, on Wednesday evening, and they escaped with his vehicle to an unknown destination.
Speaking to newsmen in Port Harcourt, on Thursday, the distraught mother of three, Ebere Daniel, said her late husband was shot by three of his passengers after he left home to get a tracker for his vehicle on Wednesday evening.
The widow said she was at home waiting for his return whem she received a phone call that she should rush down to Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Port Harcourt.
She explained: “My husband is a bolt driver. Yesterday (Wednesday), he told me he was going to collect a tracker for his vehicle. And on his way back, he said he was carrying some passengers.
“So, I was at home around 7pm and someone called me that I should come to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital.
“On getting there, I started shouting, ” Where is my husband? They said they will show me. After everything, they told me that armed robbers shot him and took his car. That along the line, the car stopped because of the tracker.
“I want the government to help me find the people that shot him. I have three children to take care of. I want justice because my husband cannot die like that.”
Reacting to the incident, Chairman of an E-Hailing Drivers Association in the state, Goodluck Iheanacho, said more than five E-Hailing drivers were killed in the past weeks.
He disclosed that there is a high rate of violence targeted at e-hailing drivers in Port Harcourt and appealed to the Rivers State government to look into the security challenges in the state.
He lamented: “We are having serious challenges on security both at night and in the day. Many of our drivers are being kidnapped and over one week now, we have recorded five killings of e-hailing bolt drivers.
“In Rivers State alone, we have about 6,000 drivers operating. Of this number, every night, we must have one incident or another. Many police stations in the state know about it. We are no longer comfortable with it.
“We are using this medium to call on the Commissioner of Police to come to our rescue because we are being attacked, molested and tortured by these bad boys.”