Tragedy
struck in the Ojota end of the Ikorodu expressway after an interstate bus
driver, Eze Gabriel, crushed his passenger, identified as Sunday, to death.
We that the deceased was among passengers who joined the interstate
bus from Jibowu, Lagos, en route to Abuja.
Sunday
was alleged to have entered the vehicle without paying the requisite N5,100
fare to Bonny Way Transport Company, owners of the luxury bus.
We were told that as the bus was about taking off, the last passenger who had gone
to buy something complained that his seat had been taken by Sunday.
Confusion
was said to have started after the victim refused to vacate the seat, insisting
he had right to the seat because he paid some people.
It
was learnt that Gabriel pulled over at Ojota, urging Sunday to get up for the
rightful owner of the seat.
Some
hoodlums in the area were reported to have barged into the bus and robbed the
driver of his valuables, while the conductor, identified as Okwudili Odo,
wrestled with Sunday.
In
the ensuing chaos, Odo and Sunday were said to have fallen off the bus, just as
the driver mounted the wheels to escape the wrath of the armed hoodlums.
The
vehicle’s tyres were reported to have crushed the victim, killing him on the
spot.
Officials
of the Rapid Response Squad, who were around the scene at the time, reportedly
arrested the driver and the conductor.
They
were taken to the Ogudu Police Division, from where the case was transferred to
the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.
Gabriel,
who hails from Enugu State, explained that for the past 36 years that he had
been driving, he had never had such an experience, saying he did not know the
victim was dead until the police told him.
Gabriel,
who is married with children and based in Enugu State, said some hoodlums in
the area opened the door from the driver’s seat and made for his property.
“I
was still begging the man that he could stand throughout the journey and I
would not collect any money from him, when some alaye boys (hoodlums) came in.
They wielded bottles, knives and other weapons.
“They
stole my bag containing money, my driving licence and my son’s passport. The
man without a ticket pulled my conductor by the trousers and they both fell off
the bus. The hoodlums started
vandalising the bus and shouting that they would burn it down. I became scared
and drove off. I did not know that the bus crushed the passenger and he died,”
he added.
He
said RRS officials who were patrolling the area arrested him and the conductor.
The
duo, along with other passengers, were said to have been taken to the Ogudu
Police Division that night.
It
was learnt that another bus was sent to convey the passengers to Abuja by
Tuesday, while the suspects were taken to the SDCI for further investigation.
Gabriel,
who said he did not push down the victim as was alleged by the hoodlums,
insisted he did not kill the victim intentionally.
The
Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Damasus Ozoani,
confirmed the incident, saying the driver and conductor pushed the victim from
the bus while it was on motion.
He
said, “It was alleged that the duo pushed out a suspected hoodlum from their
bus while on motion and he was crushed. The victim, who boarded the bus from
Jibowu, was discovered by the conductor while confirming passengers’ tickets.
The case is under investigation at SDCI, Yaba.”
Source: The Punch
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