By Rufus Ibebe
LAGOS DECEMBER 6TH (URHOBOTODAY)-There was pandemonium at Ughelli Central Market, Ughelli, Delta State yesterday when soldier men protecting SETRACO workers at a construction site of a bridge close to the market went hey wire shooting indiscriminately.
Traders selling at the market and passerby fell over themselves as they ran helter skater in order to avoid being hit by stray bullets from the soldier’s gun.
Vehicles coming from both direction of the road hastly made “U’, while those who could not turn on time abandoned their vehicles and flee on their feet. At first, most people where unaware of what was happening. This is so mostly when armed robbers or cultist could strike at any time of the day.
After the noise of the gun shots died down and normalcy returned to the scene, a corpse reported to be that of a motor cycle rider was lying on his own pool of blood, while another victim described a civilian traffic controller who was hit by stray bullet and rushed to SETRACO clinic was reported to have died later.
Urhobotoday gathered that trouble started at about 8.00 am when a soldier man who was delegated to protect workers constructing the bridge had a misunderstanding with the motorcycle rider.
The motorcycle rider according to an eye witness who does not want his name on print, had picked up an offence with the manner at which he was approached by the army who had told him to disembark from his motorcycle and push it along the side of the constructed bridge..
His refusal to obey the order of the soldier man which led to a serious argument between them. During the fracas, the soldier shot the machine rider on the foot.
This, according to our source angered the machine rider who subsequently grabbed his gun and disarmed him. Another soldier man who was watching the incident from afar shot at the machine rider and killed him instantly.
In the course of trying to escape from the scene, soldiers present started shooting sporadically as a result of which a stray bullet hit a civilian who was controlling traffic by the road side. The man was rushed to the SETRACO clinic where he later died..
After the incident SETRACO workers and soldiers guiding the scene left immediately. The corpes of both machine rider and civilian traffic controller were later deposited at Ughelli hospital.