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THE Zambia Police Service has warned motorists against attacking traffic officers on duty, saying it will not hesitate to arrest anyone who attacks the men and women in uniform.
The warning comes in the wake of attacks on traffic police officers in Lusaka, Ndola and Solwezi.
Police spokesperson Charity Chanda said in a statement yesterday that the service was concerned with the attacks on its officers who had been left with injuries.
Recently, four officers were attacked in Lusaka, two on the Copperbelt with the latest one being that of a Solwezi-based officer which happened on Thursday.
Ms Chanda said traffic officers were not on the road to harass or intimidate but to ensure that motorists adhered to road traffic rules and regulations.
“We would like to warn all motorists to desist from attacking officers on duty because police will not hesitate to arrest and take to court anyone who will attack any officer on duty,” she said.
She appealed to members of the public aggrieved with the conduct of any police officer to contact the respective officers’ supervisors so that appropriate action could be taken instead of taking the law into their own hands.
And a 27-year-old taxi driver of Solwezi has been charged with attempted murder after he injured a traffic police officer.
North-Western Province police commissioner Lackson Sakala said the driver, who was arrested on Thursday, appeared in court yesterday.
Mr Sakala said the driver of a Toyota Spacio, registration number ACM 9785, Justin Shuki, sped off at the first checkpoint and tried to escape the second one where he dragged the officer who had one leg in the suspect’s motor vehicle.
Meanwhile, a taxi driver of Matero Township in Lusaka has been murdered and his body was discovered in his car with multiple head injuries.
Ms Chanda confirmed the killing of the unidentified taxi driver aged between 25 and 30 years.
The incident happened around 01:00 hours yesterday after a report that there was a road traffic accident involving a Toyota Chaser, registration number ACL 9331 which had fallen into a drainage.
Ms Chanda said police had since apprehended a 22-year-old man of Lusaka’s Lilanda Township in connection with the death of the taxi driver.
“It was brought to our attention that the suspect was the one driving the vehicle. He is currently in custody while investigations into the matter have been launched,” she said.
Times of Zambia
