An unidentified policeman from Pen Cinema Police
Division, Agege, Lagos State, has allegedly killed an okada rider
identified simply as Omo Saki, after the policeman hit him with a baton on the
head on Oba Ogunnusi Road in the Ogba area.
According to an eyewitness, who identified
himself as Baba Lati, the policeman hit the motorcyclist with the baton after
he refused to stop when he was flagged.
He said, “It happened this morning (on Tuesday).
An okada rider was stopped by a policeman but the man refused to
stop. So, the policeman hit him with a baton he was holding. The man fell and
died immediately.
“I don’t know why the okada man refused
to stop but they have been warned not to pass through Agege, which is among the
roads commercial motorcyclists were banned from plying.”
Another eyewitness, who wished to be identified
as Iya Laje, accused the policemen of manhandling any errant motorcyclist
accosted in the area.
Iya Laje, a trader in the area, said, “I don’t
know why the policeman got angry like that. He stopped the okada rider
but he refused to stop. The next thing was that he dragged the man from his
motorcycle and hit his head with the baton.
“The okada rider fell down immediately
and died on the spot. Some boys quickly rushed to the scene to help the rider
but when they discovered that he had died, they put his corpse in a truck and
pushed it towards the police station.”
Traces of bonfire made by the youths to protest
the killing were still on the road when our correspondent visited the area.
Also, another rider, Dare Ajayi, was injured when
some policemen from the same division descended on him and beat him to a pulp
on Haruna Street, Fagba Road, Ifako Ijaye.
Ajayi, who has bruises in some parts of his body,
said Haruna Street was not among the roads okada riders were asked not
to ply.
He said, “I left my house around 6:30am. As I was
going, I saw policemen standing. They flagged me down and I stopped. One of
them told me to come down from the bike and I asked him what my offence was. He
refused to answer. As I tried to move, he pulled me back and I slugged it out
with him. We later fell into a gutter.
“The other policemen later joined him and hit me
repeatedly with the butt of their guns and batons. They injured me on my hands,
legs and neck. They also tore my cloth. Nevertheless, I did not allow them to
take my bike away.
“They later called two patrol vehicles to take me
to police station at Pen Cinema, Agege, where I bailed myself with N1, 000
after some of them who know me intervened.”
In his reaction, the Chairman, Ifako Ijaye
Motorcycles Operators Association of Lagos, Branch B, Mr. Bayo Ayorinde, said
the enforcement of the law was “brutal.”
He said, “The police need to be civil. Here at
Haruna, Fagba Road, another rider was injured. The police beat him a lot. They
have to enforce the law gradually. The state government should give exceptions
to some places. Look at the streets, a lot of passengers are stranded.”
Also, Chairman, Motorcycles Operator Association
of Lagos, Iju Ifako Branch, Mr. Ganiyu Ogundimu, said unemployment made some of
them to resort to commercial motorcycling.
He said, “The arrest of okada riders
should be done moderately. How do they want us to survive? This place is a
rural area and people can hardly survive. The Fagba Road they arrested us is
not even included in the law.
“There is no job and some of us are artisans. The
same government demolished our shops. So, we resorted to okada riding. They
have injured someone now. Thank God he did not die.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer,
Ngozi Braide, said Omo Saki fell from the bike while he was trying to escape
from the policemen that were on patrol.
Braide, who spoke with our correspondent on the
phone, explained that since the enforcement of the Traffic Law started, the okada
riders were fond of running away when they see patrol vans.
“When he saw the policemen, he wanted to
run away and he fell into the gutter. I don’t know if he died. I was told he
got up and moved away with his bike,” she said.
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