Edo driver allegedly sets traffic officer on fire, flees

An unidentified commercial bus driver has allegedly set an officer of the Edo State Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA) ablaze along Sapele Road in Benin, the state capital on fire.

The driver who is reportedly on the run drove a bus with registration number Osun FFE 145 XA, was initially arrested for violating a traffic rule at Adesua junction along Sapele Road on Friday.

One of the EDSTMA officers said the driver became violent when an attempt was made to arrest him.

It was learnt that as soon as a traffic officer was directed to take the vehicle to the office of the EDTSMA, the driver stripped himself naked, took a keg of petrol from his vehicle, poured it on the official and set him ablaze.

Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the EDSTMA, Roland Owolabi, were not successful.

But in a video on social media with pictures of the vehicle, a man suspected to be an EDSTMA official was heard saying, “The driver committed a traffic offence, and officers of the Zone 2 enforcement team apprehended him and asked him to gently take the bus to the base but he refused, he resisted arrest and started fighting everyone.

“At the end of the day, one of the officers was asked to take the bus to the base. The driver brought out petrol, got himself naked, poured the petrol on the officer on the bus and set him ablaze.

“As we speak, the officer is receiving treatment in a hospital here in Benin City. The bus driver is on the run.”