Emmanuel Jegede, 32, a dispatch rider, was killed after suspected hoodlums reportedly shoved him off his bike during an alleged extortion attempt on Ikotun-Idimu Road in Alimosho LGA, Lagos State.
Tripod Times reports that the incident happened on Wednesday at about 10am, shortly after the rider finished a delivery and was on his way to the next destination.
When he reached the Alhaja area of the road, two suspected hoodlums who were allegedly trying to extort him pushed him while he was still riding.
An eyewitness said that during the struggle, the rider crashed into the road median and died instantly at the scene.
“The rider was passing through the Ikotun-Idimu road, and when he got to Alhaja, two hoodlums who usually stay around the junction tried to stop him and suddenly pushed him while he was in motion.
“He lost control of the motorcycle, veered off the road and rammed into the median. By the time people got to the spot to rescue him, he had already died,” the source disclosed.
The eyewitness, who pleaded not to be named for security reasons, said the rider explained that he had no money on him, adding that the response angered the suspected hoodlums.
He said, “The man had just finished making a delivery and was on his way to another location. Earlier, while coming out of a street, he mistakenly hit a tricycle rider. People in the area, including the boys, intervened and settled the issue.
“After everything was resolved, the boys demanded that he should settle them for helping him. He told them he did not have any money. They then crossed to the other side of the road and waited for him before pushing him in the process.”
The source noted that his chest hit the culvert with great force, leading to his instant death.
It was gathered that the hoodlums also fled the scene immediately after the incident.
The policemen from the Idimu Police Division were later said to have arrived at the scene and evacuated the corpse.
When contacted on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Abimbola Adebisi, confirmed the incident.
She said, “A Federal Road Safety Corps officer came to the station and reported that he had seen a corpse at the scene of the accident. Our officers immediately visited the location and found the lifeless body of the victim alongside his motorcycle.
“When the police spoke with people in the area, we got two different versions of what happened. One account claimed that a pedestrian was trying to cross the road, and the rider lost control while attempting to avoid hitting the person.
“The second version was that some boys fled the scene immediately after the accident, raising suspicion that they might have attacked or pushed the rider before he crashed.
She stated that the police are still conducting investigation about the incident and are in the process of obtaining CCTV footage from the area to determine exactly what happened.
