Residents of the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State have been gripped with fear, following the fall of a truck loaded with live bullets in the area.
The Mercedes Benz 911 truck carrying a consignment of live bullets skidded off the road along Awka road, early Sunday, spilling its contents into the drain.
The contents made residents raise the alarm, which attracted the presence of heavy security men who cordoned off the arena.
A source who confirmed the incident said: “The truck fell, and the entire street was full of bullets. Some boys even scooped some with their hands and ran away, before security people arrived the scene.”
Another source added that the truck fell around 5 am when the driver and his conductor, after sustaining minor injuries, tried to evacuate and conceal the contents.
“But they could not do much before daybreak when some police operatives arrived the accident scene only to discover the truck was laden with a consignment of live bullets,”
“The police first arrived in the area before soldiers came. They later brought a tipper and used a paid loader to scoop bullets into the tipper.
“The Tipper had to make three trips to carry all the bullets to an unknown destination before the truck was finally towed out of the ditch,” the source stated.
Anambra Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ikenga Tochukwu, confirmed there was a lone accident at the spot.
On the cartons of bullets allegedly being conveyed by the truck, he said he had not been properly briefed on the situation.
However, he assured investigation had commenced into the matter, promising to get back to the reporter.
But a Senior Police Officer confirmed the incident to newsmen saying that the driver of the vehicle has been arrested and the lorry impounded, adding that the conductor had escaped.
“We are going to get to the root of the matter. The conductor is equally being trailed. It’s a very difficult time for everybody and people have to be careful,” he said.
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