Hawker’s death sparks violent protest in Lagos, 14 BRT buses destroyed

At least 14 buses belonging to Primero Transport Service Ltd were on Wednesday vandalised by suspected hoodlums along the Ikorodu Road in Lagos.

Trouble started after a street hawker, who was evading arrest by Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officials, was knocked down by an articulated vehicle at Maryland bus stop.

No sooner than the incident occurred, the suspected hoodlums pounced on the mass transit vehicles to vent their anger.

Adedeji Adeosun, a driver with the company, whose vehicle was vandalised said: “I was in traffic for about 20 minutes at Maryland.

“Then I saw some people running from Maryland and I opened the door to see what was happening.

“I heard shouts from people that we should come down, so, I immediately removed my uniform.

“I saw about 100 of the hoodlums otherwise called `area boys’ coming with stones and so I ran away.

“All the passengers on board my bus also came down and ran for dear life. I was hit by a big stone.”

Another driver, Michael Onabolu, said: “I saw people running and shouting that I should come down from the bus.

“And all of a sudden, I saw some guys surrounding the buses and asking my passengers and I to come down. Before I knew it, one of them hit the bus with a big stone and I could not move because of the traffic. I was wounded on my hands and my tights with stones.”

He said a passenger sitting beside him was also hit by a stone, adding that all the passengers were moved to other buses to reach their destinations.

Fola Tinubu, managing director, Primero Ltd, expressed displeasure over the vandalism.

“We don’t know what happened, whatever it is; it is something that has to do with the government or the police.

“But does that give aggrieved people the right to destroy private property.

“People are saying that there are no jobs in Nigeria; we have created over 2,000 jobs in the last six months. Is this the reward we will get for it?

“We need to start asking ourselves serious questions in this country.

“They have destroyed over 14 of our buses now. I don’t even know how many they have destroyed now. For what, what did we do; I am angry.

“I don’t even know where to begin because there is no justification for destroying private property; our service is for the masses.”

The Lagos state government said hoodlums took advantage of the accident, emphasising that it is illegal to hawk in the state.

Steve Ayorinde, commissioner for information, said this in a statement issued on Wednesday evening.

“The street hawker was trying to evade arrest from officials of Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI)… attempted to cross the road before being hit by the truck, which was erroneously thought to be a BRT Bus,” he said in a statement.

“As a result, hoodlums armed with sticks and stones, immediately descended on some BRT buses plying the route as at the time of the incident and in the process destroyed several of the BRT buses.

“It wasn’t any of our buses that killed him (hawker), it was a soft drink company truck that unfortunately crushed the boy while he was trying to escape from KAI officers who were on patrol trying to rid the street of street hawkers and traders.

“But hoodlums now took advantage of that to start destroying government assets, including several of the brand new BRT buses.”

Ayorinde said it took the intervention of a team from the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) to quell the riotous scene caused by the hoodlums before the corpse of the boy was taken to the morgue at the General Hospital, Ikeja.

He said at least three suspects alleged to have been part of the mob that destroyed the BRT buses have been arrested, saying that the law would take its full course.

“The Lagos state government would like to use this opportunity to further reiterate that it would not relent in ridding the state of illegality, street trading and hawking,” he said.