The Hausa community in Port Harcourt, Rivers state on Monday evening embarked in a protest in the state capital against the alleged killing of their colleague by person's believed to be agents if the state Task Force on Illegal Trading.
The angry protesters blocked the Presidential hotel axis of the Port Harcourt-Aba Express Road to express their displeasure following the death of their friend whose identity was yet to be ascertained.
The Founding Father, Association of Northern Traders, Port Harcourt branch, Lawal Daura, alleged that operatives of the Rivers Task Force against Street Trading and Illegal Motor Parks arrested the deceased and returned his lifeless body minutes later.
Daura stated that the deceased was gold and another valuable article collector who only visited his friends near the Presidential Hotel and was standing along the road before he was picked up by the task force.
He said, "Sincerely I was not around when the incident happened, but when I came back I was told that men of the Rivers state task force came and arrested an elderly man who visited to see our people here and was arrested along with Presidential hotel.
"They took him inside their vehicle, drove away and after 10 to 20 minutes, he was brought back and at the end of the day, the man died, that was why our people protested against what the task force did."
A driver who plies the Port Harcourt Aba road, who did not want his name mentioned, however said a commercial taxi driver who was attempting to evade arrest by operatives of the task force on illegal motor parks and street trading hit the deceased who was standing on the road and killed him.
"One of our fellow drivers who was trying to run away from the task force men went and hit one Hausa man who was standing by the side of the road and killed him.
"The driver and his vehicle were arrested and taken away, because of that the Hausa's blocked the road today and caused a heavy traffic," he said.
Following the incident, there was heavy traffic along Port Harcourt-Aba Road and there was heavy presence of security men positioned at strategic locations to forstall any breech of peace.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni (DSP), confirmed the incident but said the police have brought the condition under control.
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