Some louts said to be workers of the Lagos State Parks and Garages Management have brutalised a commercial bus conductor, Saheed Alimi, in the Sabo area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Alimi dropped off passengers at the bus stop on Monday when the gang approached him and demanded N100 as payment for using the bus stop.
When Alimi resisted, the hoodlums were said to have flogged him with canes, as they dragged him on the tarred road.
While the attack continued, the bus conductor claimed he lost N14,700.
The victim, who spoke to our correspondent on Thursday, said he was hospitalised after the incident.
He said, “I told them it wasn’t my final bus stop; that was how they started flogging me with canes; I told the driver to stop because the vehicle was still in motion and we couldn’t speed off in that area. The driver stopped and about three of them started flogging me again; they tore my clothes, dragged me on the floor and I lost the N14,700 in my pocket.
“We went to a police station to report the matter so I could be treated in a hospital. Two officers followed me to the spot where the incident happened but when we got there, we didn’t see them; they had taken to their heels.
“I am actually a driver but I couldn’t drive that day because of the constant pain I have in my hand when I drive.”
An eyewitness, Babajide Oguneko, who recorded the incident, lamented the constant attacks by louts on commercial drivers and conductors.
He said, “This is how these agberos (hoodlums) treat commercial bus drivers and their conductors in Ikorodu. See the way they are dragging him. There’s no one to rescue him; they’ve injured him. They’re assaulting him just because of a token.”
The video clip, seen by our correspondent, showed that Alimi was dragged on the floor by three louts.
The bus driver, Moruff Dawuda, said he pleaded with the group to spare his conductor, but they refused and started flogging him as well.
He said, “Saheed (Alimi) is actually a driver but he decided to be a conductor that day. I drove the bus that day and it was because of N100 that they brutalised him. He was beaten and dragged on the floor; his hand was injured. I was pleading with them that he already had pain in his hand but they didn’t listen. Instead, they started flogging me with their canes as well.
“I wasn’t injured, but my conductor was badly injured and he had to go to the hospital. We reported to the Sagamu Road Police Station and he was given a police case request for medical treatment. Please, we need help; something needs to be done about the constant attacks by these hoodlums.”
The President of the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria, Akintade Abiodun, said a meeting had been scheduled with the Chairman, Lagos State Parks and Garages Management, Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, regarding recent attacks on commercial drivers and conductors by louts working for the agency.
“At the meeting, we will lodge our complaints and present our reports, so that something will be done about this matter. Our demand is that he should get these boys off the road and take them back to the motor parks. It is unfair for them to be on the highway harassing us,” he added.
The state Police Public Relations Office, Benjamin Hundeyin, stated that efforts were being made to apprehend the culprits.
He said, “The DPO is making efforts to arrest the culprits, who are at large.”
Efforts to speak to MC Oluomo’s aide, Jimoh Buhari, were abortive as he did not take his calls which rang out several times.
