A family member and a colleague of a bus driver identified as Ayobami, aka Ero, have denied that he set himself ablaze after his vehicle was impounded around 7 And 8 Bus Stop, Airport Road, Lagos State.
The aggrieved family member and colleague alleged that some government agents set Ayobami ablaze.
A colleague, who identified himself as Adeola, said he was conveying passengers to a destination when the incident happened, adding that he saw the state officials impounding vehicles at the bus stop.
During the enforcement, Adeola explained that one of the area boys working with the taskforce dragged the steering with Ayobami, who refused to release his vehicle.
In a desperate attempt to impound the vehicle, the eyewitness said the area boy reached for petrol, poured it on Ayobami and used a lighter to set the father of two ablaze.
“He did not set himself ablaze; how can somebody who is normal set himself ablaze? It was the area boys working with the task force that poured patrol on him and used a lighter to set him on fire,” Punch quoted him to have said on Wednesday.
“It was done to make him get down from the bus. At first, they threatened him with the petrol, but he refused to get down, so they poured it on him and threatened to burn him, but he refused again.
“It was when the area boys were switching on and off the lighter that the fuel attracted the fire and his body started burning. Even the area boy who was dragging with him at the front seat quickly jumped down and fled alongside the task force officers.”
The victim, who sustained serious burns in the face, chest, stomach, back and arms, was rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
A relative, who identified himself as Baba Roqeeb, confirmed Adeola’s account of the incident, adding that doctors were battling to save Ayobami’s life.
“Immediately he got burnt, his conductor, Rotimi, called me. But when I rushed to the scene of the incident, I was told that they already rushed him to Makinde Police Station,” he said.
“I quickly rushed down there but was told they already left for the task force office at Bolade, Oshodi. When I got there, the policemen detained me in a cell when they knew I was there because of Ayobami.
“I asked why they detained me, but they said they heard we were trying to burn the office like it happened during EndSARS. They released me when they needed a family member to accompany him to a hospital.”
Ayobami’s vehicle was parked close to his house around Aji Camp, Ajao Estate, Punch reported Wednesday.
Black patches were seen on the roof of the driver’s side, indicating that the front seat was burnt.
The Chairman of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Enforcement Unit (Lagos taskforce), CSP Shola Jejeloye, in a statement on Wednesday, distanced officials of the agency from the incident.
Jejeloye said at the time of the incident, his men were still at their base, adding that some imposters were using the name of the agency to perpetrate crimes.
“Investigations and accounts of persons who were present at the scene of the incident have categorically revealed that the driver, one Mr Ayo aka Eru, poured petrol on himself to scare security operatives from enforcing the traffic law which he violated,” he said.
“After the operatives left, luck ran out on him and some of the hoodlums present mistook him for one of the security operatives and set him ablaze.
“Let me emphasise here that for us as an agency of government, we believe that it is better for us to allow an offender to go unharmed than to cause an injury.”
State police spokesperson Adekunle Ajisebutu said the matter is being investigated.