A forty-four year-old
bus conductor was allegedly crushed to death by a vehicle belonging to
officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, yesterday, at
Cele Bus Stop, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, while the bus driver was avoiding
arrest.
The incident
caused a riot as hoodlums attacked LASTMA officials and also invaded their
office at Cele, destroying several vehicles’ windscreens.
Trouble
started for the deceased, identified as Ikeckukwu Abasirim, after the driver of
the bus, with an unknown identity, was ordered to stop by LASTMA officials at
Mile 2, over an unknown offence.
The driver of
the bus was said to have ignored the order, an action that reportedly led to
the LASTMA officials chasing the vehicle.
On arrival at
Cele Bus Stop, passengers in the commercial bus disembarked, while the
conductor was busy calling in passengers, unknown to them that they were still
being trailed by the officials.
According to eyewitnesses
the LASTMA vehicle blocked the commercial bus, while one of the officials held
Ikechukwu, attempted to force him into their operational vehicle.
‘How he died’
One witness
said: “In the ensuing struggle, one of the officials was said to have swept the
conductor off his feet.
“He fell and
at that moment, the LASTMA official at the wheel was said to have moved the
vehicle. The tyres went over Ikechukwu’s skull, killing him on the spot.”
Others told
Vanguard that on-lookers raised an alarm which attracted hoodlums who pounced
on the two LASTMA officials.
A trader who
gave his name as Lawani said: “ The LASTMA official, who swept the conductor
off his feet was the first person to alert his colleagues that their car had
climbed the conductor’s head.
“There was no
way we could save him as he died on the spot. A mob attacked the officials, but
they were lucky to escape before the arrival of another batch of hoodlums.
“The hoodlums
invaded LASTMA office around Cele and shattered windscreens of vehicles parked
inside the premises.
“Owners of
some of the seized vehicles used the opportunity to drive them away without
paying the dues.
“My question
is, why chase them all the way from Mile 2 to Cele, when there are other ways
to apprehend a defaulter?”
The riot
caused traffic gridlock. It took the intervention of a combined team of
policemen from Itire and Ijesha divisions to contain the situation.
Sympathizers,
who thronged the one-room apartment, tried to console her and her four
children, aged 14, 11, seven and four, respectively.
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