By Tina Amanda
One Kelechi Uzor, a bolt driver has submitted himself to Okporo Police Station, Rumuodara in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers state, over the case of Miss Elizabeth Edoukumor who was declared missing a few hours after he dropped her off at Harmony Estate, Eliozu, Port Harcourt.
Uzor denied culpability in the incident, claiming he only drove the missing girl to her destination.
In an interview with our Correspondent, the bolt driver narrated that on October 9, 2023, Miss Elizabeth Edoukumor booked for a ride at Eastern bye-pass to Harmony Estate.
“I took her to Harmony estate at Eliozu, Port Harcourt, when I got to the estate, I parked because you cannot enter the estate without the authorization of someone inside.
“So when she got the permission to enter, I drove into the estate and parked at the residence she was going to. She offloaded her bags because she came with some goods, she paid me cash and I drove off.
“When I entered the estate, I was checked by the security and when I was leaving, I was also checked, they checked everything in my car to their satisfaction they permitted me to leave the estate.
“Later that night, a lady called me and was asking whether I picked Elizabeth up from the estate, I told the lady no, that what I did, was to drop her at the estate and left the place.
“After that day, another man called asking me whether, I heard anything, if Elizabeth made any call that I could remember, I told him no that I did not listen to her conversation, I was only taking her to the place she asked me to take her to.
“So the next day, some other people were calling me trying to lure me to a certain area, they will call me and say, am I a bolt driver, I should come and pick them so, so place. I said no, I cannot come and pick them up, you have to book bolt first before I can pick you up, I cannot just come and pick you up.
“They have been calling, I now discovered that one of them is the supposed Uncle to the girl. After when I refused to meet them, they are now telling me that I am the bolt driver who took Elizabeth to so so place. I told them yes that I had explained to them, that I dropped the girl and left.
“So since then, I have been getting calls and threats, as the Uncle threatened me that I should better bring the girl alive and that this one is bad market. He was making other threats, I have not received any call from the Police to come.
“I came to the Police station to say my own side of the story because the calls and threats is becoming too much, so I came to find out why the parents of the girl were threatening me. I have no hand in the girl’s disappearance. So I came to the Police station to complain”.
The bolt map cited by our correspondent indicated that the bolt driver dropped Elizabeth inside Harmony Estate by 6:16 p.m.
A post on social media believed to have been made about the missing Elizabeth Edoukumor by her family indicated that she called her people at about 6:31 pm that she was leaving her aunt’s place in Harmony Estate to home but her line was later not reachable and went off afterward.
In the meantime, a Human Rights Advocate, Prince Wiro, who led Uzor to the Police station has urged the parents and relatives of the missing girl to come to the Police station rather than asking the bolt driver to meet them privately.
Wiro who is also the National Coordinator of the Centre for Basic Rights And Accountability Campaign, disclosed that the bolt driver approached him on the matter and as a patriotic Nigerian, he encouraged and took him to the Police station for investigation.
