By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Tragedy was on Tuesday averted at Aroma area of Awka, Anambra State capital, as a commercial driver who was beaten and tear gassed by officials of the Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ARTMA) slumped and lost consciousness before being rushed to a hospital by a good samaritan.

According to an eyewitness, Nkechi Okoli, the driver was stopped by the traffic officers for a traffic offence, but an altercation ensued immediately after, leading to the officers manhandling of the driver and subsequently spraying tear gas, unaware that he was asthmatic.

An eyewitness, Nkechi Okoli, who witnessed the incident, said the traffic officers stopped the driver, and an altercation ensued.

In the process, they beat him and sprayed tear gas, unaware that the man was asthmatic.

The witness said: “ARTMA personnel sprayed tear gas four times into the man’s face, causing him to fall unconscious. They then dragged him out of the vehicle and drove off.

“The driver lay on the main road for over two hours without any attention.

“The ARTMA personnel later returned to the scene and saw the man lying helplessly but did not do anything to rush him to the hospital. Instead, they took his vehicle to their office.

“It took the intervention of a woman, who called a tricycle operator, to convey the man to Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital for treatment.”

Another eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity stressed that the brutality with which ARTMA officers enforce traffic laws is becoming terrifying.

While saying that the ARTMA officers could have taken the driver to the hospital when they discovered he was lying flat on the road, he added, “They Instead continued to use his bus until it dawned on them that the man was in danger.

“These ARTMA officers are terrorizing motorists in the name of enforcing traffic laws. This man they manhandled today could have been arrested and taken to their office instead of being beaten and sprayed with tear gas into unconsciousness.

“I urge the government to call the officers to order before they start killing people in the name of traffic enforcement.”