A 44-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.
Vanguard gathered that 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.
Eyewitnesses told Vanguard that
the LASTMA vehicle blocked the commercial bus, while one of the officials held
Ikechukwu and 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.
… a family bereaved
When Vanguard visited the
deceased’s apartment around Ijesha area, his widow kept shaking her head, without
uttering a word.
Sympathizers, who thronged the
one-room apartment, tried to console her and her four children, aged 14, 11,
seven and four, respectively.
Mayhem, As LASTMA Van Crush Bus Conduct In Lagos
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
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