BREAKING: Angry mob attacks, beats policeman for pushing driver crushed by BRT in Lagos

Eric Patrick

Some angry mob in the Ketu area of Lagos State were seen beating a yet-to-be-identified policeman after pushing a bus driver identified only as Yusuf into a moving BRT bus.

Eyewitnesses at the scene identified as Mrs Rasheed told THEWATCH AFRICA that the policeman and his colleagues were attempting to dispossess Yusuf of his vehicle when he got pushed into the BRT lane.

Yusuf collapsed after one of the BRT buses driving in the lane rammed into him, I am sure he did not die, she added.

Another eyewitness, who does not want her name mentioned, said the policemen were responsible for Yusuf’s ordeal, adding that he sustained varying degrees of injury as a result of the incident.

“The policemen caused this; they were the ones that were trying to dispossess the man of his vehicle and while trying to push the man out of the vehicle, they pushed him on the BRT lane and an incoming bus ran into the man,” the eyewitness said.

A trader whose name could not be ascertained as he hastily spoke with our correspondent when the scene got rowdy, said the policemen, after realising that Yusuf had been crushed by the BRT, attempted to flee the scene but an angry mob apprehended one of them.

He said, “It was people that beat the policeman till he fainted. He has not died because I still observed that he was breathing. People were annoyed about what they did to that man.

“The man sustained serious injuries, look at him lying unconscious on the floor and his blood on the road.”

People rushed to the rescue Yusuf who was seen lying motionless on the BRT lane.

While some people were seen pouring water on him to make him regain consciousness, our correspondent observed as policemen attached to the Ketu Divisional Police Station attempted to rescue their colleague who also lay motionless on the ground.

The uniform of the brutalised policeman had been torn due to the impact of the attack on him by the angry mob.

People were also seen blaming the policeman and his colleagues for causing the tragic accident.

Yusuf was rushed to the hospital by people after seeing that the victim sustained a very deep cut onhis right arm.

Policemen attached to the Ketu Division were seen storming the scene to restore normalcy. The yet-to-be-identified policeman was also rushed to the hospital for treatment.

All efforts to reach the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, on his telephones lines proved abortive.