The life of a 28-year-old tricycle
rider, Onu Kingsley, has been cut short after the driver of a Toyota Corolla,
identified simply as Kingsley, allegedly dragged him on the road and crashed
his body against a hurdle. The incident happened on the Apapa Road, Ebute Meta
area of Lagos State on Saturday evening.
PUNCH Metro reports that Onu, an
indigene of Enugu State, had alighted from his tricycle, popularly called, Keke
NAPEP, to complain that Kingsley hit his motorcycle and injured one of his
passengers.
The driver reportedly ignored the
deceased and made to drive off when Onu pulled him by the shirt in a bid to
stop him from escaping. The suspect wound up his window glass with the
deceased’s hand stuck, and raced down the Apapa Road, dragging him on the road
in the process.
A friend of the deceased, Emmanuel
Esan, who spoke to Punch said they lived in the same room on Ilaje Street. He
said:
“We were together in the room that evening because we lived together. He
did not plan to go out that day, but because there was no electricity, he
decided to go out and make
Some money. I suddenly woke up around 12 midnight and didn’t see him by
my side. I decided to call his telephone line, but the person who picked it
said the owner of the phone had been injured in an accident and was at the
police station.”
He said he never knew his friend had
died until someone broke the news to him while he was heading for the Iponri
Police Station. Esan lamented that Onu might not have died if he had been
helped to the hospital on time.
“I learnt he was on the accident spot for over two hours before the
police arrived and took them to the station. He was asked to make statements,
together with the driver. It was on the way to the hospital that he died,” he
added
He said Onu had only recently bought
an application form to run a part time academic programme at the Yaba College
of Technology, when fate struck.
Uncle to the deceased, Mike Onu,
said he brought him to Lagos 15 years ago. He described him as a quiet, humble
and hardworking boy, adding that the incident was unfortunate.
“He was working hard for his future when the incident happened. He has
just two brothers; one is in Sokoto, while the second is in Enugu. Since he
died, his body has been lying there at the Mainland General Hospital mortuary.
We have been waiting to hear from the family of the suspect, but none of them
has shown up. We believe the police will help us handle the situation,” he
added.
A family friend, Spurgeon Ataene,
asked the police authorities to give the deceased justice. The legal
practitioner said:
“The circumstances under which a case can be regarded as a fatal motor
accident are clearly distinct from that of a case of murder. Murder is with
intent to kill ab initio. Here, the suspect was not even provoked. He was the
one who hit the passengers and was being confronted. He still sped off,
brushing Onu’s body on the concrete tars, peeling off his flesh in the process
and turning his body to piles of meat. This is a clear case of murder and
should be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department.”
The Police Public Relations Officer,
Lagos State Command, Ngozi Braide, could not be reached on the telephone. Punch
reports that a text message sent to her phone had also yet to be replied as of
the time of filing this report.
“We
were together in the room that evening because we lived together. He
did not plan to go out that day, but because there was no electricity,
he decided to go out and make
some money. I suddenly woke up around 12 midnight and didn’t see him by my side. I decided to call his telephone line, but the person who picked it said the owner of the phone had been injured in an accident and was at the police station.” - See more at: http://gistreel.com/2014/06/17/driver-drags-keke-napep-rider-death-lagos/#sthash.0nh8B2s1.dpuf
some money. I suddenly woke up around 12 midnight and didn’t see him by my side. I decided to call his telephone line, but the person who picked it said the owner of the phone had been injured in an accident and was at the police station.” - See more at: http://gistreel.com/2014/06/17/driver-drags-keke-napep-rider-death-lagos/#sthash.0nh8B2s1.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment