•Victims accuse tricycle operator
•No, mob did it –operators’ union boss
Four men in Alimosho area of Lagos State are critically ill in a
private hospital following an acid bath allegedly by a commercial
tricycle operator. The victims, Jamiu Akogun, Wasiu Ismail, Basiru and
another yet-to-be-identified man said the suspect (name withheld)
attached to the Command unit of the tricycle union in Alagbado-Ijaiye
area of Alimosho Local Government Council poured the corrosive liquid on
them during a fight.
But the chairman of the local union, Mr. Tajudeen Gbolagade, denied
the allegation, saying that sympathisers who witnessed how the four men
allegedly beat the suspect almost to a state of coma, might have done it
to prevent them from killing him. Checks by Sunday Sun revealed that
the problem started at Ipaja area of Alagbado when the suspect took on
the four men for driving recklessly and almost hit him with their
motorbikes.
Both parties were said to have hurled insults at one another, before
the fracas that later involved other members of the tricycle riders’
union. It was gathered that during the free for all, someone appeared
with a container containing the deadly liquid, poured it on the four
men, and walked away. The faces, neck and back of two of the victims
were seriously burnt and they are receiving treatment in a private
hospital in Meiran, Ogun State.
Akogun whose face and neck were seriously burnt, told his story to
Sunday Sun: “It happened on November 11. My colleagues and I were hired
by a church to slaughter a cow for a thanksgiving service. Five of us
rode on motorbikes and as we were about to negotiate a bend around the
Ipaja area, the keke maruwa (tricycle) rider suddenly appeared and we
almost hit him. He got down from the tricycle, walked over to us and
accused us of wanting to hit him.
We advised him to avoid trouble and continue with his business but he
refused and while the matter dragged on, some of his colleagues that
were nearby, joined and they started bracing up for a fight. While we
tried to resolve the matter amicably, one of his colleagues left the
scene as if he wanted to make calls. Moments later, he re-appeared with a
container and bathed four of us with acid. It was really painful.
“Suddenly, we couldn’t see again and we went down, writhing in pain.
Apparently not satisfied, our assailants clubbed us with planks until we
ran away.
Somehow, they caught Bashiru and labelled him an armed robber, and
dragged him to the police station. He was detained but when the police
noticed the damage done to his face and back, they took him to hospital
for treatment and started investigation. The rest of us were rescued and
taken to the hospital by some sympathisers. We later learnt that the
man who attacked us was arrested and detained at the Alago Police
Station close to the area.” A witness, Baba Oba, corroborated Akogun’s
story saying that he reported the suspect to his chairman at the Command
unit. His words: “I recognised the man who bathed my four friends with
acid.
When I went to report him at his unit in Command area, their chairman
asked if I could recognise him among all the riders in the unit and I
told him that I could. He allowed me to see all of them and I pointed at
the culprit. The chairman said that they would hand him over to police
and take care of my friends, but hinted that they wouldn’t accept that
he did it.” The chairman of the unit, Mr Gbolagade, later told reporters
that the suspect denied pouring acid on the victims. He said: “What we
learnt was that the four men fought with our man and beat him almost to a
state of coma.
The people around noticed what was happening and raised the alarm and
that was when an unknown person appeared and sprayed the four men with
battery water. It couldn’t have been acid water because when we learnt
about the development, we took the affected men to the hospital and we
are going to take care of their medical bills. “We have even told the
victims that we would treat them in any other hospital where they could
get better treatment.
It was unfortunate that such an incident happened. Perhaps if they
hadn’t fought our man and beaten him mercilessly, no one would have
thought of doing that to them.” When Sunday Sun contacted the Lagos
State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mrs. Ngozi Braide on phone
on the incident, she told the reporter needed to contact the Divisional
Police Officer in-charge of the area. “I will call the DPO of the
station and then get back to you. Just let me call you back,” she said.
But she was yet to do so as at press time.
Source: Sun News
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