Gunmen murder 2 truck drivers, set vehicle ablaze in Imo

Tension and grief have gripped Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State following a brutal attack by unidentified gunmen that left two truck drivers dead and their vehicle torched.

The incident took place around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at Ogi Junction, a usually busy spot along a key transit route in the area. Eyewitnesses report that the assailants opened fire on the drivers before setting their truck on fire, sending panic through the community.

Officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Imo State chapter, confirmed the attack. Dahiru Musa, chairman of NURTW in Okigwe, expressed deep shock and sorrow, stating that the union had promptly notified the police and other security operatives about the attack.

Narrating the incident, the chairman said, “Suspected Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) members blocked the road and opened fire on them on Saturday. They burnt the truck, which was fully loaded with gari, and the corpses.”

According to the chairman, shortly after the incident, he reported it to the security forces, including soldiers and police.

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“The soldiers and DPO of Okigwe have visited the scene of the incident.The police and I evacuated the bodies to a hospital, and on Monday, we offered them funeral prayers and buried them,” he said.

Speaking further on the development, the spokesperson of NURTW Heavy Truck, Laranto Motor Park, Jos, Mahmud Jafaru, said the truck was heading for Port Harcourt when the perpetrators lunched the attack.

Jafaru gave the names of the drivers as Haruna Muhammad and Adamu Ibrahim.

“The drivers loaded gari from Ayangade to Port Harcourt when the gunmen killed them in broad daylight. This is one too many. Drivers from the North have become valued less than human beings.

“They are killed at will. As long as you are a driver from the North, you don’t have rest of mind until you get to Port Harcourt, and the government and security forces seem to do nothing about it,” the spokesperson said.

Jafaru, however, called on the government to take necessary action to address the problem, as they have lost countless drivers and trucks worth millions of naira have been destroyed.

When contacted about the incident, the spokesperson of the Imo State Police Command, Henry Okoye, did not respond.

Daily Trust recalls that on March 2, 2025, drivers and owners of trucks conveying goods from the North to the South East had protested against incessant killing of their members by suspected IPOB terrorists.

They staged the protest in Jos, the Plateau state capital, decrying that many of their members were killed and theirs vehicles burned in the attacks.