- By Halimah Olamide
While an account said the man was a traffic officer who had tried to apprehend one of the okada riders, another account said the man was a phone thief who was chased to the spot where he was summarily killed.
A scary video has gone viral showing a lifeless body of a man who was said to have been murdered by commercial motorcycle operators popularly called Okada riders riding over his body several times.
NPO Reports two versions of what led to the man being killed.
While an account said the man was a traffic officer who had tried to apprehend one of the okada riders, another account said the man was a phone thief who was chased to the spot where he was summarily killed.
Many people looked on as the okada riders rode over his body man times with no one challenging them.
NPO Reports could not ascertain which part of Lagos the incident happened as at the time of filing this report.
Also, the State Police command is yet to make any statement on it.
The video has ignited another fresh debate online over the activities of Okada riders in the state.
OKADA RIDERS AS LAW UNTO THEMSELVES
Two years ago, a group of riders killed a sound engineer, Davido Imoh at the Admiralty Way area of Lekki. Another of his colleagues, was also about to be lynched before the arrival of policemen.
Imoh served as a Sound Engineer for Legacy360 band, while Olatimji, Balogun served as Saxophonist and Keyboardist respectively.
In a statement released by Legacy360 band, the trio met their unfortunate fates after a misunderstanding over N100 change with an Okada rider of Northern extraction.
According to the statement, Imoh and Balogun boarded a bike and on getting to their destination, had an argument with the bike rider over N100 change, which ultimately led to the bike rider and colleagues attacking both men, while Olatimji was attacked while trying to settle the scuffle.
The statement reads, “The Mob attack that took the life of Sunday David Imoh, the band’s Sound Engineer and hospitalised the band’s saxophonist (Francis Olatimji) and keyboardist (Philip Balogun) remains a nightmare not only to the Band members but also to their families and the general public.
Last year, some okada riders had killed a policeman on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
The policemen were said to have gone to the area to enforce the rule that bans Okada on the expressway.
The riders were said to have mobilised themselves in scores to attack the policemen killing one of them in the process.
There are many other criminal and lawless activities of the riders in the state.
The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had banned the use of Okada in many major routes of the state.
The ban does not appear to have been effective.