Blockade by bus drivers on the Kaduna-Abuja highway left thousands of motorists stranded for hours (Source: Twitter/collabo21)

Thousands of motorists were left stranded for several hours after angry articulated truck drivers blocked both lanes of the Abuja-Kaduna highway in protest against the killing of a driver who was allegedly shot by a policeman for refusing to give a ₦2000 bribe.

Eyewitnesses said the deceased, a J5 driver who was allegedly transporting smuggled rice to an unknown destination was shot around midnight at a checkpoint near OLAM Floor Mill in Kaduna.

It was gathered that a Dangote female truck driver was the first to arrive the scene and she used her truck to block one of the lanes while other drivers joined her to block the other lane.

The drivers were said to have insisted that they would not remove the barricades until the Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and the state Commissioner of Police, Ali Aji Janga addressed them. However, the action did not go down well with other motorists plying the route who argued that the truck drivers should have adopted alternative measures to express their displeasure over the unfortunate incident.

As at the time of filing this report, all efforts by soldiers and other security personnel at the scene of the blockade to open the road has failed as the aggrieved drivers have remained adamant and refused to cooperate.