A COMMERCIAL bus driver committed suicide in Lagos on Tuesday by setting himself ablaze while protesting the seizure of his vehicle by operatives of a traffic enforcement task force set up by the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation.
The yet to be identified driver, whose bus was among vehicles impounded by the task force, was said to be protesting against the development when he suddenly poured petrol on himself and set himself ablaze.
Eyewitnesses said the driver was arrested for an alleged traffic offense in the Ajao Estate area of Lagos.
Two officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) were said to have dragged him out of the vehicle and started the ignition for onward movement to their base at Oshodi.
As they were about to move, the driver, according to eyewitnesses, poured fuel on his body and set himself ablaze.
The situation degenerated when other commercial bus drivers, conductors, and passers-by started hauling stones at the LASTMA officials.
A fight eventually ensued between the traffic enforcement officials and hoodlums.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Lagos State Police Command Adekunle Ajisebutu said the state commissioner of police Abiodun Alabi has ordered an investigation into the incident.
“The information we got was that there was resistance when task force from the ministry of transportation went for enforcement. No policeman set any vehicle ablaze; policemen attached to the Ajao Estate Police Division were not involved in what happened. However, the commissioner of police has ordered investigation into the incident,” he said.
Also reacting to the development, spokesperson of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit, Raheem Gbadeyinka, said no officer of the agency was involved in the operation.
He said, “The incident happened around 5:00 a.m. and as of 8:00 a.m., our men were still at the office because we were looking for fuel for our patrol vans as of that time.”
The Commander of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in Lagos State Olayinka Egbeyemi, who confirmed the incident, said the timely deployment of his men to the area saved the LASTMA officials from being lynched by the mob.
A reporter with the ICIR
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