Policeman kills commercial motorcycle [okada] rider in Lagos

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, 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, accused the policemen of manhandling any errant motorcyclist accosted in the area. she 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.”

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.”

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.