Anambra traffic agency operators teargas asthmatic driver into coma

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By Madu Obi

Officials of the Anambra State Road Traffic Management Agency (ARTMA) have tear gassed a commercial bus driver into coma at the popular Aroma Junction in Awka.

An eyewitness said that when the traffic officers stopped the driver, there was an altercation, expressing surprise that the officers beat the driver and sprayed tear gas four times directly on his face, unaware that he is asthmatic.

The eye witness added that when the man slumped, the officials dragged him out of the vehicle and left him on the road for over two hours without attention.

The eye witness said: “The ARTMA personnel later returned to the scene, saw the man lying helpless, but did not rush him to the hospital. Instead, they took his vehicle to their office.

It was a good Samaritan, a woman, who called a tricycle operator, that eventually conveyed the man to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital for treatment.

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 beating him and spraying tear gas on him until he became unconscious.”

She urged the state government to call the officers to order before they start sending people to early grave in the name of traffic enforcement.