Nigeria Content Online

Angry youth in Niger yesterday started a riot following the death of 18 people in a gory motor accident.

The rioters were
furious that the grains trailer, which was unmoved since breaking down
along the Abuja/ Kaduna expressway over 10 days ago, was allowed to
remain there until an 18-seater bus, bound to Kaduna from Lagos, ran
into it yesterday morning, killing all the people on board.

According to
eyewitnesses, the youth chased off police and federal road safety corps
officials and burnt down the Corp’s office in Sabon Wuse, Niger State.
A police patrol vehicle was also burnt in the fracas.

The accident
occurred at around 3 a.m opposite the Government Girls Secondary School
Tafa, Sabon Wuse, and no one could be rescued when the bus caught fire.

The Police Public
Relations Officer in the state, Richard Adamu Oguche said, “The police
ran to the scene but because the fire was too much, my men could do
nothing.”

Mob action

By the time
officers of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) came around to
remove the bus from under the trailer, a mob had gathered. The youth
began to insult the road marshals who initially responded in kind until
the matter turned violent and the officials had to run from the scene.

The mob gave chase
and when a police patrol team also tried to intervene, the youth
reportedly attacked the policemen who abandoned their vehicle and
hightailed it out of there. The vehicle was burnt down as was the FRSC
office.

Traffic along the
Abuja–Kaduna road was stopped for the best part of two hours as the
mob took over the highway. The police had to send in reinforcement to
quell the riots before travellers could finally pass.

The incident caused an Internet scare after several messages were
broadcast to many Nigerians warning them of a riot along the road.