Doctors at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, UUTH, Akwa Ibom State, are battling to save the life of a man who was shot in the face by a soldier in Uyo.

The shooting, which has left residents of the city in shock, occurred on Wednesday around 12.45 p.m. at Asutan Street, off Wellington Bassey Way, Uyo.

Witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES that they saw a white Toyota Hilux belonging to Wizchino Engineering Ltd, with the license plate number ABC 222 AY, pulled up suddenly behind a 14-seater bus belonging to the Akwa Ibom State Judiciary.

The witnesses said they saw an armed soldier hurriedly step down from the Wizchino pick-up truck, rush to the judiciary bus and shoot the driver at a close range.

Wizchino is a Chinese firm handling road construction contracts for the Akwa Ibom government.

“It happened within seconds. Before we could figure out what was going on, the soldier fled the scene with the truck,” one of the witnesses said.

“The soldier wasn’t the one who drove the truck; it was driven by another person.”

The victim was later identified as Godwin Udoaka, a driver attached to the judiciary in Akwa Ibom.

When a PREMIUM TIMES reporter visited the scene of the incident, there were blood stains on the tarred road and pieces of broken glass littered the floor, apparently from a shattered windscreen or window.

As at 1.30 p.m. at the UUTH, Mr. Udoaka was seen lying on the bed at the emergency unit of the hospital, with blood dripping from his nose region.

The victim’s wife, Imaobong, told PREMIUM TIMES that her husband was contesting for the right of way with the Wizchino pick-up truck along Udo Umana Street, before the soldier and the driver of the truck trailed him from there to Asutan Street where he was shot.

When contacted, one Eric, a Chinese national, said to be the project manager of Wizchino, denied knowledge of the incident.

The police spokesperson in the state, Ikechukwu Chukwu, confirmed the incident.

“We are making effort to link up with the company and the military in order to identify the officer involved,” Mr. Chukwu said.