‘She Panicked And A Tipper Ran Over Her’ – Lagos Police Speaks On Killing Woman In Abule Egba During Enforcement Of Okada Ban

The Lagos State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, on Tuesday, denied claims that its operatives were responsible for the death of a woman in the Abule Egba area of the state.

The Police Command in a statement via its official account on the X platform said this while reacting to a citizen’s call regarding the death of the woman who was captured in a video lying in the middle of the road.

The citizen with X username @mz_cutieoranz had called for help in evacuating the woman with claims that she was killed in an accident caused by the Lagos task force.

She had written: “Pls help me share till it gets to the right authority; Lagos task force just caused an accident at santos avenue abule egba lagos, a woman is lying helpless with a broken head, pls Lagos state government should help remove her asap.”

But reacting to her post, the Lagos State Police Command said its officers are not responsible for the death.

The Command claimed its operatives who were on a legitimate duty of enforcing the ban on Okada operations in Lagos were about to be mobbed by the motorcycle riders and they had to use tear gas to disperse the crowd.

The statement added that it was while this was ongoing that the woman in question who was a passenger in a tricycle panicked and jumped out of the tricycle and she was subsequently run over by an approaching tipper.

The Police added that the driver absconded from the scene but the vehicle was recovered.

It added that contact has been established with the family of the deceased woman and a full investigation into the entire incident has commenced.

The Police statement reads: “Preliminary investigation reveals that earlier today at about 1030hrs at Santos Avenue, Abule Egba, police officers on legitimate enforcement of the existing ban on motorcycles in Lagos State were about to be mobbed by motorcycle riders.

“To preserve the lives of the officers and equally rule out casualties on the side of the riders, teargas was justifiably used to disperse the crowd.

“A passenger in a tricycle, witnessing the use of teargas ahead panicked and jumped out of the tricycle. Sadly, an approaching Leyland tipper, with registration number AAB 376 CB, being driven recklessly, ran over her.

“The driver of the tipper absconded the scene while the vehicle has been recovered. Contact has also been established with family of the deceased. Meanwhile, full investigation into the incident has commenced.”