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 tricycle 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.
