Protesters block Bwari-Dutse road as trailer crushes woman
Residents of Dutsen Makaranta in Bwari Area Council yesterday blocked the busy Bwari-Dutse road to protest over the death of a woman who was reportedly crushed by a trailer Wednesday evening.
The woman was said to be standing at the popular Police signboard bus stop when the incident happened at about 6.30pm on Wednesday.
Witnesses said the driver of the trailer lost control and rammed into the woman, before crashing into a gutter by the side of the road.
As a result of the incident, angry residents, mostly youths, blocked the expressway yesterday, preventing motorists from using the road.
The situation caused heavy traffic jam for more than an hour as the protesters started digging across the expressway to provide speed breakers.
Some of the protesters, who spoke with City News on condition of anonymity, said they decided to create the artificial speed breakers to prevent reckless killing of their people on the road.
They said their repeated appeal to the company that constructed the road as well as Bwari council authorities to erect speed breakers on the road had yielded no results.
The protesters alleged that many people, especially the aged ones, have been killed by motorist plying the road, saying most of them over speed senselessly.
Anti-riot police officers were however mobilized to the scene and they immediately dispersed the protesters with tear gas.
Residents of Peyi, Jigo and Pwabara communities along the same road had earlier staged a similar protest against the killing of their people by the motorists.
In one of the protests, the Bwari council chairman, Peter Yohanna Ushafa, promised to liaise with the FCT administration on the need to mount speed breakers in strategic locations along the road.
But the residents said up till now nothing has been heard from the council as motorists continue to kill their people from time to time.
FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent Altine Daniel, confirmed the incident when contacted yesterday, saying a vehicle hit one of the residents Wednesday evening and the people blocked the road yesterday in protest of the incident.
She said police moved in and persuaded them to leave the road and urged residents to always report such incident at the nearest police station close to them instead of taking law into their hands.