A commercial bus driver in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, David Legbara, 37, who recently got married, woke up very early on the morning of Friday, August 7, 2015, prayed with his eight-month pregnant wife and left for work.
The driver, until his death in the afternoon of the same August 7, was plying Mile Three-Rumuokoro route on the ever-busy Ikwerre Road in the city.
Shortly after loading passengers from the popular Mile Three Park in Diobu, heading for Rumuokoro, he was stopped by policemen on stop-and-search duty at Wimpey Junction, Mile Four, Ikwerre Road around 12.20 p.m., but he was shot and killed by James Imhalu, a mobile policeman, popularly called MOPOL, whom he refused to give the demanded N100 bribe at the check point, without any provocation or altercation.
Imhalu, a police Sergeant, is attached to the Kala Divisional Police Headquarters at Rumueprikom, Port Harcourt, the hometown of the Rivers Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike.
The late Legbara, an Ogoni man from Uegwere-Boue in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers state, was the only child of his parents and the bread winner of his family, with an aged mother and if he did not bring money home daily, there would be no food for the family to eat.
After shooting and killing Legbara, some of the passengers in the bus were also hit by the killer policeman’s bullets, sustaining varying degrees of injury, but still managed to jump out of the ill-fated bus and scampered to safety, to avoid being killed by the notorious policemen to cover the evidence.
When the sad news of the bus driver’s murder got to Mile Three Park in the afternoon of August 7, his colleagues moved to Wimpey Junction and briefly protested.
The aggrieved commercial drivers, their conductors and sympathisers strategised overnight, mobilised their members from the various parks in Port Harcourt and its environs and decided to protest again on August 8. They protested naked on major roads and streets in the state capital, especially Ikwerre and Aba roads.
Very early on the morning of August 8, the rampaging protesters started burning disused tyres at different spots on the roads and streets, particularly Ikwerre road, one of the longest roads in the Rivers state capital that leads to the Port Harcourt International Airport, thereby creating tension in the state.
Loading of intra-city and inter-state passengers was halted by the protest, as motorists, pedestrians, commuters groaning, trekking long distances and scampering to safety to avoid being hit by stray bullets, while economic and commercial activities were halted for some hours, by the ugly development, with people hurriedly shutting their business premises, in view of the horrific and warlike scene.
The fearless drivers also confronted hoodlums at Wike’s Rumueprikom, Port Harcourt in Obio/Akpor LGA, leading to a free-for-all and complete breakdown of law and order.
The spontaneous protest, sparked off by the murder, was not mostly condemned by Port Harcourt residents, who rightly saw the action of the errant policeman as unjustifiable, with the protest spilling to major highways, causing traffic dislocation and pains to members of the public.
The notorious Rumueprikom on Ikwerre Road, just before Rumuokwuta Roundabout, then became a war zone, with the protesting commercial drivers having the intention of razing the Kala Divisional Police Headquarters.
The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Kala police headquarters promptly mobilised the policemen from the station, who confronted the protesters, leading to violence and confusion, with bullets flying and the roads and streets quickly deserted.
In spite of the policemen’s sporadic and deafening gunshots and the teargas canisters fired to disperse the angry protesters, the determined commercial drivers were undeterred and continued to march to the Kala police station, with police reinforcement immediately drafted to contain the situation, which was later brought under control.
Most of the aggrieved drivers and conductors then decided to completely strip, walking on the major roads stark naked, which was a horrible sight to behold, with women and ladies taking to their heels, to avoid any unfortunate incident.
Sergeant Imhalu has been detained, while the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, immediately ordered full-scale investigation into the case.
A brother to the deceased, Gbenewii Papabari, said the late Legbara was heading for Rumuokoro in Obio/kpor Local Government after loading passengers from the popular Mile Three Park when he was stopped at the always-busy Wimpey Junction, shot and killed by the policeman, whom he refused to give N100 bribe.
Papabari said: “Police have just murdered an Ogoni man and they have murdered sleep. My brother is the breadwinner of the family. We will not accept any plea on this matter. This is a man that his mother is very old in his home, if he did not bring money, there would be no food.
“As I am speaking with you now, he got married recently and the wife is eight months pregnant. You can imagine how their condition will be. So, the entire Ogoni people will continue to protest and the drivers promised to ensure justice.”
The Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Commercial Drivers Association, Chukwuemeka Henry Ogu, while also reacting, pointed out that their anger was that the police did not understand the gravity of the matter, by asking them to wait till August 10, 2015, before the drivers could be addressed on the matter.
Ogu noted that though police authorities had already revealed that the killer sergeant had been arrested, but insisted that the arrest of the suspect would not deter them from fighting for the death of their colleague.
The drivers’ PRO said: “The protest you are seeing here today showed that we are not happy over the death of our member. This morning, we called the drivers, ordering them that there should not be any loading. That is the reason for the suffering of passengers.
“You can see them (passengers/commuters/travellers) trekking. We do not want any driver to work, until justice is done on the matter. Nowadays in Port Harcourt, the drivers do not know where the actual bus stops are or where to pick and drop passengers. Police always chase us around. We want them (police) to tell us the hope of the unborn baby of our colleague.”
A lawyer, Gobari Deebom, stated that as an Ogoni man, he decided to take over the matter to bring justice to the victim’s family.
Deebom stressed that the killer driver would not go unpunished, having already petitioned the IGP and the Rivers Commissioner of Police, Chris Okey Ezike on the matter, while disclosing that his meeting with Ezike showed that the police would cooperate to bring justice on the matter.
The Rivers police boss, in his reaction, noted that two wrongs would not make a right, while stating that the killing of Legbara was clearly unacceptable and avoidable circumstance.
Ezike also confirmed that the sergeant, who was among the policemen on stop-and-search duty at Wimpey Junction, had been arrested, according to him, having shot and killed the bus driver.
Rivers police commissioner said: “On 7th of August, 2015 at about 12.20hrs at Wimpey Junction, Ikwerre Road, Port Harcourt, a policeman on stop-and-search duty shot and killed one David Legbara, who was a bus driver.
“This action sparked off spontaneous protest from drivers, sympathisers and indeed members of the public, who rightly saw the action of the policeman as unjustifiable. The protest spilled to major highways and caused traffic disruption and pains to members of the public.
“The policeman was promptly disarmed, arrested and detained, while I ordered full scale investigation into the circumstances and ramifications of this painful incident.
“I sympathise and condole with the family of the deceased on the loss of their loved one. I condemn in unmistakable terms, the action of the policeman, as preliminary facts revealed his action was clearly avoidable. However, I shall await the outcome of full investigation as already ordered, before any conclusive action is taken.
“The Inspector-General of Police is fully briefed, but he is saddened by the action of the policeman and has ordered that he (sergeant) be charged to court on conclusion of investigation. The protests on Friday and Saturday (August 7 and 8) appear to have been hijacked by hoodlums and cultists, as entreaties for peace fell on deaf ears.
“Two wrongs cannot make a right. I therefore appeal to the deceased family, the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Drivers’ Union, and indeed parents and guardians to calm frayed nerves and allow peace to reign. We shall ensure that justice is done to this matter.”
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) also condemned “in strong terms” the unjustified and gruesome murder of the Ogoni (Legbara) by Imhalu and demanded his immediate prosecution and payment of adequate compensation from the police to the family of the deceased.
MOSOP, through its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, also warned that should nothing be done within fourteen days, the Ogoni people would have no choice, but to peacefully and non-violently protest the heinous killing, which was described as condemnable.The umbrella organisation of the Ogoni people said: “It is our position that the dastardly act has gone far beyond mere condemnation by the police hierarchy and it must thus match its public reaction with visibly genuine action.
“The Ogoni people, we must say, are keenly watching and will accept nothing less than justice, not only being done, but also seen to be done on time.
“The condition under which Mr. Legbara was killed is reminiscent of past situations, wherein a huge number of Ogoni natives had been gruesomely murdered over the years by the police over the latter’s attempts at extorting money from our people. Reports available to MOSOP have shown that the issue occasioning this latest death was extortion-related, but seemingly masked otherwise.
“MOSOP is deeply concerned at the excessive use of force by the policeman on the victim, in a matter eyewitnesses said was not corresponding to such degree of violent response. It is MOSOP’s position that even if the deceased had committed any offence; Sergeant Imhalu had no right to have taken his life.
“As a policeman of his rank (sergeant), he could not have feigned ignorance of the fact that he was prohibited by law and good conscience from denying the deceased his inalienable right to life, hence we believe the policeman’s killing of the Ogoni was deliberate. After all, there were acceptable options available to him.”
MOSOP also stated that the violent approaches with which most policemen pursue the issue of extortion to the detriment of civilised policing had become a major source of concern and an appalling embarrassment to the people.
The umbrella organisation of the Ogoni people stressed that the tendency of extortion by policemen had occasioned erosion of confidence and cooperation with the police by the general public, while calling for the comprehensive reform of the Nigeria police.
Governor Nyesom Wike, according to his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, visited Wimpey Junction and calmed the protesting crowd of commercial bus drivers, on the killing of their colleague by a trigger-happy police man and promised to bring the culprit to book.
Wike said: “It is because I saw you (protesting bus drivers) gathered here, that is why I stopped. I will not support a bad thing. I must find out the policeman that committed this murder and he must be brought to book.
“I advise you all not to take the law into your own hands. I have called the Commissioner of Police and he must explain to me why one of his men would kill an innocent person. Please calm down.”
Wike also stated that burning of disused tyres at different spots on Ikwerre road would not bring back the dead driver, while admonishing the crowd to disperse, claiming that their presence might aggravate the situation.
The question remains: who killed Citizen Legbara? Until it is answered, the life of a Nigerian appears to mean nothing.