A 41-year-old man identified as Usman Bukar, who claims to hail from Kano State, has allegedly slapped a taxi driver to Coma at the Temple Clinic Junction Asaba, Delta State.
Bukar reportedly slapped the driver after he openly jubilated over an online news report purporting that President Buhari had died.
Eyewitnesses said Bukar was visibly angry when the taxi driver (name withheld) brought a passenger to a newspaper stand around the Temple Clinic, where the incident occurred, when “free readers” including Newspapers’ buyers were struggling to catch a glimpse of the News stories published in the various daily newspapers. It was gathered that the taxi driver, among others joined in the rumor of the President’s death and allegedly said inciting statements against the President.
The driver was reported to have said, “the body of the President should be thrown into River-Niger, he is very wicked for fish and other wild animals to do justice on him”.
His utterances reportedly angered Bukar, who also was by the newsstand to buy one of the daily newspapers.
“He slapped the driver and following the slap, the man immediately moved into unexpected coma”, a source said, noting that but for the intervention of some police officers at the scene it would have been a bloody fight between relations of the taxi driver who were later invited to the scene.
The driver was later rushed to a private hospital where he is being revived as at the time of this report.
The spokesman of the Delta state police command, Mr. Andrew Aniamaka confirmed that the victim is receiving treatment, adding that the alleged attacker has been arrested and detained for interrogation.
