Invalid Licence: How Soldiers Beat Up Vio Personnel

Some Nigeria Army personnel stationed at the Kugbo checkpoint on the ever busy Nyanya-Mararaba road, beat up five personnel of the FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), popularly called VIO for allegedly impounding a vehicle belonging to their senior colleague.

It was gathered that the beating ensued when the DRTS officers resumed work for afternoon traffic control duty last week.
It was gathered that the assaulted DRTS personnel were unaware that the unidentified senior army officer had lodged a complaint to the Guards Bridge unit stationed at Kugbo opposite the mechanic village that his car had been impounded by the Nyanya Command of the DRTS.

It was learnt that, driver of the impounded vehicle, a grey coloured Toyota Sienna bus with Lagos State registration number APP 729 DD who admited to not having a valid driver’s licence, had warned the VIO officers not to arrest the vehicle because it belonged to a military colonel.

The unsuspecting VIO personnel had barely settled down for operation carryout evening operation close to Army checkpoint, when the hefty soldiers pounced on them from all directions, beating them mercilessly, not knowing that the unfortunate VIO officers were not the ones who impounded their superior’s vehicle. The VIO officers scampered into nearby hills and bushes for their lives.

However, the beating of the VIO personnel attracted cheers from motorists, who decried their alleged high handedness, while others simply gathered and watched as the drama ensued.

Reacting to the development, Chairman of the FCT Ministerial task team on traffic management, Ikharo Attah, said the soldiers had mistaken his men for those in Nyanya who impounded the vehicle of their colleague.

Attah adds: “When I heard of it, I called the Kugbo DRTS Area Commander, Mr Walter. He was bittered because he had intervened in the matter when he heard of the impounding of the soldier’s vehicle

“While I cannot make a categorical statement on the matter now, I can assure you that we would reach out to the military on the matter. What I can say clearly is that the military had been very supportive of the FCT Administration in traffic management and other key areas of city management and security.”

It would be recalled that just weeks after the EndSARS protests, some Civil Defence officers beat up VIO personnel from the same Kugbo command and damaged their official vehicle.