Death Of Bus Conductor: LASTMA Man In Trouble

The Lagos State Government has begun investigation into the alleged killing of a bus conductor by an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority at Toll Gate area on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday.

The official of LASTMA, who faces trial and could be jailed if found guilty, was said to have allegedly dragged the bus conductor by the name Rashidi Alabi, 30, down from a moving bus and was crushed by a vehicle and he died immediately.

Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa said the state government had begun preliminary investigation into the alleged killing.

Opeifa noted that the state government would come out with its finding after the investigation, while commiserating with the family of the victim.

Motorway on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway boiled yesterday as a LASTMA official, who is said to be called Oshodi O. allegedly dragged a bus conductor from a moving bus and was crushed by another vehicle to death.

There are different versions of the story as told by eye witnesses. One of the versions has it that the LASTMA official was alleged to have forcefully pulled down the bus conductor from his moving Volkswagen 14-seater commuter bus with registration number XZ 78 AGL for refusing to part with N50.

“His bus had moved out of the bus stop without the usual settlement when the aggrieved traffic official pounced on him,” an aggrieved source alleged.

Another version had it that the commercial bus was trying to evade arrest by LASTMA when the conductor was crushed to death by another vehicle.

According to Mutiu Alfred, a vulcanizer who witnessed the event, “the LASTMA officials pursued the bus that was coming from Oworosonki area heading towards the toll gate. One of the LASTMA officials just ran and pursued them, before we knew it, he dragged the conductor down from the bus forcefully and in the process he hit his forehead on the ground before another vehicle crushed him to death.

“This is the second time LASTMA officials are killing people in this particular area. The first one was the case in which commercial motorcyclists also known as Okada killed their member and two BRT buses were burnt.

“Today (yesterday) again they have killed another person over the collection of N100 and N200 from these commuter bus drivers and okada. It is sad, I work here and I see how they maltreat drivers here every day.”

Hell was let loose in the area when a mob obstructed traffic on the busy expressway while policemen were quickly drafted to the scene to maintain peace and order.

Brother of the deceased, Mr. Fatai wept uncontrollably, saying that the deceased had left him and his poor widow to cater for his four kids.

“How do we cater for these children? He has four children. His wife recently gave birth to a child and he is yet to even do the naming ceremony and now he is dead,” he lamented.

The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the morgue at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

—Kazeem Ugbodaga