Interstate driver kills passenger over N5,000 fare

Tragedy struck in the Ojota end of the Ikorodu expressway after an interstate bus driver, Eze Gabriel, crushed his passenger, identified as Sunday, to death.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased was among passengers who joined the interstate bus from Jibowu, Lagos, en route to Abuja.

Sunday was alleged to have entered the vehicle without paying the requisite N5,100 fare to Bonny Way Transport Company, owners of the luxury bus.

 Our correspondent was told that as the bus was about taking off, the last passenger who had gone to buy something complained that his seat had been taken by Sunday.

Confusion was said to have started after the victim refused to vacate the seat, insisting he had right to the seat because he paid some people.

It was learnt that Gabriel pulled over at Ojota, urging Sunday to get up for the rightful owner of the seat.

Some hoodlums in the area were reported to have barged into the bus and robbed the driver of his valuables, while the conductor, identified as Okwudili Odo, wrestled with Sunday.

 In the ensuing chaos, Odo and Sunday were said to have fallen off the bus, just as the driver mounted the wheels to escape the wrath of the armed hoodlums.

 The vehicle’s tyres were reported to have crushed the victim, killing him on the spot.

 Officials of the Rapid Response Squad, who were around the scene at the time, reportedly arrested the driver and the conductor.

 They were taken to the Ogudu Police Division, from where the case was transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.

Gabriel, who hails from Enugu State, explained that for the past 36 years that he had been driving, he had never had such an experience, saying he did not know the victim was dead until the police told him.

 He said, “On Monday, my vehicle was loaded with Abuja passengers and I took from Jibowu around 11pm. On our way to Fadeyi, a passenger angrily asked for his seat from the conductor. I asked the conductor to resolve the matter.

 “We discovered that there was another passenger on the seat. The man did not have the company’s ticket, so my conductor asked him to leave the seat for its rightful owner, but he refused. Even other passengers persuaded him, still he didn’t listen.”

He said to resolve the problem, he decided to park the bus by the roadside under the Ojota Bridge.

Gabriel, who is married with children and based in Enugu State, said some hoodlums in the area opened the door from the driver’s seat and made for his property.

“I was still begging the man that he could stand throughout the journey and I would not collect any money from him, when some alaye boys (hoodlums) came in. They wielded bottles, knives and other weapons.

“They stole my bag containing money, my driving licence and my son’s passport. The man without a ticket pulled my conductor by the trousers and they both fell off the bus.  The hoodlums started vandalising the bus and shouting that they would burn it down. I became scared and drove off. I did not know that the bus crushed the passenger and he died,” he added.

He said RRS officials who were patrolling the area arrested him and the conductor.

The duo, along with other passengers, were said to have been taken to the Ogudu Police Division that night.

It was learnt that another bus was sent to convey the passengers to Abuja by Tuesday, while the suspects were taken to the SDCI for further investigation.

Gabriel, who said he did not push down the victim as was alleged by the hoodlums, insisted he did not kill the victim intentionally.

The Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, Damasus Ozoani, confirmed the incident, saying the driver and conductor pushed the victim from the bus while it was on motion.

He said, “It was alleged that the duo pushed out a suspected hoodlum from their bus while on motion and he was crushed. The victim, who boarded the bus from Jibowu, was discovered by the conductor while confirming passengers’ tickets. The case is under investigation at SDCI, Yaba.”