Panic has returned to the Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway as armed robbers resume attacks along the route, killing a commercial driver near Amechi Idodo in Enugu State.
According to accounts from transport unions, the driver of a Lagos-bound Toyota Sienna was shot dead while traveling to Abakaliki after a long trip from Lagos. The attackers reportedly intercepted the vehicle between Eke-Obinagu and Amechi Idodo, robbed passengers of their valuables, and killed the driver.
The Amechi Idodo junction leads to the country home of Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah. The renewed violence has ended a period of relative calm on the highway that followed the removal of security checkpoints after the #EndSARS protests.
Commercial drivers say the police have responded by setting up night-to-dawn checkpoints, but drivers allege the checkpoints have become points for extortion between 6am and 7am. Some drivers also claim criminals are using police uniforms and the same locations to stop and rob motorists between 7pm and 6am, targeting commercial vehicles carrying goods from Onitsha to Cross River State.
The attacks prompted commercial drivers to temporarily block the expressway to demand action from the state government and police.
Transport stakeholders warn that if unchecked, criminal activity on the corridor could disrupt the major trade route linking the South-East to the South-South and North-Central regions.
Efforts to get a response from Enugu State Police Command spokesperson SP Daniel Ndukwe were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
