A yet to be identified Tipping-truck driver has been reportedly shot dead by the operatives of Department of State Service (DSS) in Edo state.
The incident was said to have occurred on Tuesday morning along Ikpoba slope by Tenbonga junction in Ikpoba-Okha local government area of the State capital.
The now deceased driver was said to be in company of colleagues who had volunteered to control the early morning traffic on the road.
Blueprint gathered 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 dual-carriage way.
A witness simply identified as Osaghae said: “There was a hilux blarring siren and driving one way… 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 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 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.
The operatives are yet to respond to inquiry over the tragic incident.
A source at the DSS however alleged that hoodlums pounced on some operatives with guns and various dangerous weapons in a bid to free arrested kidnappers in Ikpoba Slope.
According to the source, “One of the hoodlums succumbed to the superior power of the DSS which resulted to his death”.
