14:I[76937,["9344","static/chunks/9081a741-c61dd986cfa0c828.js","6408","static/chunks/00cbbcb7-c04264a14f470d4a.js","8173","static/chunks/8173-fc6c345d757cc6f6.js","7970","static/chunks/7970-6e0129b3de8ddbd6.js","3539","static/chunks/3539-02bf90933f94c836.js","6937","static/chunks/6937-3bd12da95143b93b.js","8827","static/chunks/app/(dashboard)/account/news/%5Bid%5D/edit/page-ce509fe7e2acda80.js"],"UpdateNewsForm"] 15:T674,

A combined team of the Army and Police Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) has restored law and order in Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra State in Nigeria’s South-East.

“The situation has since been brought under control,” a top-level source in Onitsha who spoke with News Express said. “Everywhere is now calm,” he added.

News Express learnt that trouble started when some men of the Anambra State Transport Agency (ANSTA) known locally as Peter Obi Police attempted without success to stop a commercial truck for checks. One of them was said to have jumped into the truck and was driven away by the driver, who obviously had a sinister motive.

“An okada man followed them and when they got to Upper Iweka in nearby Onitsha raised an alarm to prevent the truck from leaving Anambra State. When the truck was stopped before it could enter Niger Bridge, the ANSTA man was found strangled,” a source in Onitsha told News Express.

The shocking discovery inflamed passions and ignited a riot but the timely intervention of the army and SARS prevented reprisal killings even as northerners in Onitsha poured into the army barracks for protection – the offending truck driver being from their part of the country.

The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, told newsmen that nobody was killed in the riots and confirmed that things have since normalised in the town harboring the biggest market in West Africa.

•Photo: The army played a key role in restoring law

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