Commercial bus drivers and their conductors stripped on Saturday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State as they marched through the streets to protest the police killing of one of their members.

Trouble started on Friday at Whimpy Junction, along the ever-busy Ikwerre Road when a policeman on stop-and-search duty from the Kala Police Station, Rumueprikom shot and killed a bus driver, David Legbara, over N100 bribe.

The late Legbara, an Ogoni man from Uegewe-Boue in Tai LGA of Rivers state was the only son and the bread winner of his family, who recently got married, with the wife eight months pregnant.

The killing sparked off spontaneous protest from other commercial drivers, conductors and sympathisers, who saw the action of the policeman as unjustifiable.

The protest continued on Saturday with the marchers heading to Kala Divisional Police Headquarters.

Sensing trouble, DPO of the station promptly mobilised his men. Bullets and teargas started flying in the air to scare the marchers.

But the protesters regrouped for the naked march around the city.

Governor Nyesom Wike has called for calm.

He made the appeal while addressing a protesting crowd of commercial bus drivers today, over the unlawful killing of their colleague by a trigger-happy police man.

The governor addressed the angry crowd at the Ikwerre/Wimpy road junction, where the homicide occurred on Friday evening, during an argument between the policeman and the victim over a N100 bribe for an undisclosed offence.

The Rivers State Governor promised to bring the culprit to book saying “it is because I saw you gathered here, that’s why I stopped. I will not support a bad thing, I must find out the policeman that committed this murder and he must be brought to book. I advise you all not to take laws into your hands. I have called the Commissioner of Police and he must explain to me why one of his men would kill an innocent person. Please calm down”, he said.

The State Chief Executive maintained that burning old tyres at different spots on Ikwerre road ,to show grievance, would not bring back the dead victim.

Governor Wike advised the crowd to disperse, saying that their presence may aggravate and escalate the already volatile situation.

Wimpy junction where the killing Driver is at the heart of Wike’s Ward in Obio-Akpor local government area of Rivers state.