Anger as LASTMA kills conductor on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway

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An angry mob almost lynched some officials of the Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) because one of them allegedly killed a bus conductor yesterday. The incident occurred at Cele bus stop on the Apapa- Oshodi Expressway.
The LASTMA official was said to have hit the conductor, identified simply as IK, in the chest with an iron rod. IK, whose wife was said to have given birth to his fifth child a couple of days ago, fell down and died instantly. A witness said the incident occurred about 11.30am when the bus was driving against traffic from Cele bus stop to Mile 2.

He said: “One of the LASTMA officials at Cele was trying to stop the bus. It was in an attempt to arrest the bus that the LASTMA official hit the conductor in the chest. The conductor fell down immediately and died.
When the man fell down, the driver stopped to see what had happened, but the LASTMA official took to his heels. “After hearing what happened from the culprit, his colleagues ran into the Cele Police Post in order to escape the wrath of the protesting sympathisers.” Infuriated by the LASTMA official’s action, protesters made bonfire in the middle of the expressway. They also used the affected bus to block the road, thereby halting vehicular movement from the troubled spot down to Mile 2. Thereafter, the protesters surged towards the police post, saying that the LASTMA officials should be released to them.
It was at that point that reinforcement from nearby police stations such as Ijesha and Itire police stations as well as Alakara police station in Mushin arrived and began to shoot indiscriminately in order to disperse the protesters. “The driver was not the only one driving against traffic. It is a daily occurrence at Cele bus stop. We even learnt that they have an agreement with the LASTMA officials so that they can be driving against traffic unhindered.
“What the LASTMA officials do is to use objects like stones and iron rods to attack drivers who are not part of the agreement,” another witness said. But before the arrival of the police reinforcement, some sympathisers and friends of the deceased took the body to the LASTMA Yard on Ogunlana- Ijesha Road. The protesters attacked the LASTMA Yard and pulled down a section of the fence. When our correspondent visited the place, it was littered with broken bottles. The protesters also damaged some of the cars parked inside the yard, while the resi-dents and traders in the area hurriedly locked up their shops for fear of being attacked by the mob.
The LASTMA Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mrs Bola Ajao, neither picked her calls nor responded to a text message sent to her mobile phone.
 http://newtelegraphonline.com/anger-as-lastma-kills-conductor-on-apapa-oshodi-expressway/