Seven persons were reportedly burnt to death on Thursday after officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps opened fire on a commercial bus on Milikin Hill Road, Enugu.
It was learnt that the bus had barely left Enugu New Market, located a few kilometres from Milikin Hill, when armed civil defence officials asked the driver to stop. The Enugu headquarters of the NSCDC is near New Market.
The driver reportedly refused to stop and sped away as the NSCDC men chased the bus in a Hilux van.
It was gathered that some other agents of the security agency boarded a tricycle to join in the chase along Milikin Hill Road, which is bordered on both sides by a deep valley.
Eyewitnesses said as the commercial bus was getting to the end of the road, the civil defence officers opened fire on the vehicle, causing it to veer off the road and crash into the valley. The vehicle reportedly burst into flames instantly.
Reports of the incident led to a protest by commercial bus drivers and other sympathisers, particularly natives of Ngwo town, where the passengers were reportedly heading for before they met tragic end.
Some of the drivers and youths reportedly attempted to protest at the office of the NSCDC around New Market, but heavily armed operatives repelled the protesters by barricading the road leading to the office and shooting into the air.
Some commercial bus drivers, who interacted with our correspondent during the protest, said the NSCDC men shot at their vehicles when they approached the building.
Our correspondent was shown some commercial buses with shattered windscreens and glasses.
A witness, who refused to identify himself, claimed that the driver of the commercial bus had refused to give the NSCDC a bribe before they started chasing the vehicle.
At the scene of the crash on Millikin Hill, our correspondent observed that the commercial bus was totally burnt.
The charred remains of a passenger were trapped under the vehicle, which was lying on its back inside the valley.
An official of the Federal Road Safety Corps, who was at the scene of the crash, informed our correspondent that the corpses of three passengers had been moved to an undisclosed hospital morgue.
There were reports that the civil defence personnel involved in the incident had been taken into custody.
A towing van was eventually brought to lift the vehicle, after which the trapped corpse was removed and put in an ambulance.
The body was reportedly taken to the morgue of the Eastern Nigeria Medical Centre, Enugu.
Police sources informed our correspondent that a girl, said to be the sole survivor of the crash, was taken to the office of the Enugu State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Danmallam.
Danmallam, who later arrived at the protest scene, said the girl had been hospitalised and could not talk.
He said investigations had commenced, adding that some suspects had been arrested.
PUNCH