The was pandemonium in Benin City, the Edo State Capital on Tuesday following the death of yet to be identified Tipper -truck driver who was reportedly shot by operatives of Department of State Service (DSS) in the State.
The incident was said to have occurred in the early hours of the day along Ikpoba-slope road by the tipper-truck garage in the ancient city of Benin.
The now deceased driver was said to be in company of colleagues who had volunteered to control the early morning traffic on the road.
Reports have it that trouble started when some vehicles conveying DSS operatives drove against traffic in a bid to avoid traffic jam on the other lane of the dua carriage way.
An eye witness simply identified as Osaghae said: “there was a hilux van blaring siren and driving against traffic and on sighting the hilux, the tipper drivers controlling the traffic allowed the vehicle to move on because there were security operatives inside.
“After the hilux, one other Audi car drove behind; and the drivers controlling the traffic attempted to accost it to use the right way; unknown to them that the car was also conveying plain-clothes operatives.
“And before a blink of an eye, the DSS operatives opened fire which resulted in the death of a tipper driver.
“They (DSS) thereafter arrested three traffic control volunteers and also took the body of the deceased driver away.
The development caused heavy gridlock in the Benin metropolis for over six hours as other drivers protested the death of their colleague.
Repeated gunshots were heard at the DSS office in Benin City as the protesting drivers marched towards the facility.
But operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in their version of the story said they were attacked by some hoodlums in a bid to free arrested kidnappers at Ikpoba Slope in the early early hours of Tuesday.
A DSS officer who refused to disclose his name told newsmen that the hoodlums got a tip off that the operatives have arrested three of their men who were involved in kidnapping and decided to lay siege on them at the popular Tipper Garage by the Tenboga Junction to free them.
The officer said the hoodlums, upon sighting the DSS operatives, pounced on them with guns and various dangerous weapons.
The DSS officer said its operatives sustained varying degrees of injuries from the attack while their vehicles were also damaged
It was gathered that the female among them was almost raped by the hoodlums.
It was also learnt that the hoodlums engaged the operatives of the DSS in a fierce gun battle but they (hoodlums) succumbed to the superior powers of the DSS resulting to the death of one of the hoodlums.
The officer said three of the suspected kidnappers were eventually arrested and are cooling off in their custody as at the time of filing this story.
The DSS officer also said the operatives is poised to join hands with other sister agencies to make the state a crime free state for all.
