A commercial bus driver whose vehicle was impounded by a task force team from the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, on Tuesday set himself ablaze in the Ajao Estate area of Lagos state.
It was gathered that the taskforce, while on enforcement duties along the airport road area connecting Ajao Estate, impounded some shuttles.
The driver whose bus was among the impounded vehicles was said to be protesting the seizure when he suddenly reached for petrol, poured it on himself and set himself ablaze.
An eyewitness, Aliu, said there was resistance between the driver and the task force members during the enforcement.
He said the task force operatives went to clean up the Airport Shuttles Area and during the exercise, they impounded some buses and had a face-off with some of the drivers, at a point, one of the frustrated drivers poured petrol on himself and set himself ablaze.
Another witness, Kudirat, said, “The victim got the vehicle on high purchase.
“The driver was frustrated. The task force took the vehicles away”.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Adekunke Ajisebutu, said the State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, has ordered investigations into the incident.
The PPRO said, “The information we got was that there was resistance when the task force from the Ministry of Transportation went for enforcement. “No policeman set anyone ablaze, Policemen attached to Ajao Estate police division were not involved in what happened. However, the Commissioner of Police has ordered an investigation into the incident”.
A spokesperson for the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit, Raheem Gbadeyi, said, “No officer of the agency was involved in the operation”.
He said, “The incident happened around 5 a.m. and as at 8 am, our men were still at the office because we were looking for fuel for our patrol vans as of that time”.
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