An e-Hailing cab driver, Kelechi Uzor, voluntarily turned himself in to the Okporo Police Station in Rumuodara, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, to prove his innocence following the alleged disappearance of a girl he dropped off.
Uzor had reportedly dropped off his passenger identified as Elizabeth Edoukumor, at Harmony Estate in Eliozu, Port Harcourt, but the lady was declared missing hours later.
But the Bolt driver has denied knowledge of her whereabouts after she alighted from his vehicle, pointing out that he didn’t know her before then.
Uzor, while speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt on Friday, said, “On October 9, 2023, she booked a ride at Eastern By-Pass (in Port Harcourt). I took her to Harmony Estate at Eliozu. When I got to the estate, I parked because you cannot enter the estate without authorisation of someone inside.
“When the lady (Elizabeth) got the permission to enter, I entered the estate, parked at the residence she was going to, she offloaded her bags because she came with some goods, paid me in cash and I drove off.
“When I entered the estate, I was checked by the securitymen, when I was leaving, I was also checked. They checked everything in my car gave me permission to leave the estate.
“Later that night, a lady called me and was asking whether I picked her (Elizabeth) up from the estate, I said no. That what I did was to drop her at the estate and left the place.
“After that day, another man called and asked me if I heard anything, if she (Elizabeth) made any call that I could remember. I told him no, that I didn’t listen to her conversation.”
He explained that the next day, some people were calling to lure him to a certain area, saying, “They will call me and ask if I’m a Bolt driver. I should come and pick them so, so place.
“I said no, I cannot that they have to book Bolt first before I can pick anyone. They have been calling, and I now discovered that one of them is the supposed uncle to the girl.
“So, after I refused to meet them, they are now telling me that I am the Bolt driver who took Elizabeth to so and so place. I told them yes that I have explained to them that I dropped the girl and left.
“Since then, I have been getting threat calls and like the uncle threatening me that I should better bring the girl alive that this one is bad market
“He was saying other threats. I have not received any call from the police to come but I went to the police station to say my own side of the story because the calls and threats are becoming too much.
“So I came to find out why the parents of the girl are threatening me because I have no hand in the disappearance of the girl. So I came to the police station to complain.”
Meanwhile, a social media post believed to have been made about the missing lady (Elizabeth) by her family indicated that she called her people at about 6:31pm to say that she was leaving her aunt’s place in the said estate and was home-bound, but her line was later unavailable and went off afterwards.
The Bolt map cited by our correspondent indicated that the Bolt driver dropped Elizabeth inside Harmony Estate around 6:16pm.
Speaking on the matter, a rights advocate and National Coordinator, Centre for Basic Rights And Accountability Campaign, Prince Wiro, who led Uzor to the police station, faulted the action of the girl’s parents..
Wiro said the right thing for them to have done was to report to the police station rather than ask the Bolt driver to meet them privately.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said she would find out and revert.
As of press time, she has not done so.
