‘Poured petrol on himself’ Lagos driver sets himself on fire, dies over confiscated bus

On Tuesday, an unidentified commercial bus driver set himself on fire in Lagos State’s Ajao Estate neighborhood.

It was learned that while on enforcement duty along the Airport Road region linking Ajao Estate, agents of the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation seized 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.

A resident, who gave his name as Aliu, said there was resistance between the aggrieved drivers and the task force operatives during the enforcement.

He said, “Task force operatives went to clean up the Airport shuttle area. 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 resident, who identified herself as Kudirat, said the victim got the vehicle on high purchase.

“The driver was frustrated. The task force operatives took the impounded vehicles away,” she added.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, said the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, had ordered an investigation into the incident.

He said, “The information we got was that there was resistance when task force from the ministry of transportation went for enforcement. No policeman set any vehicle ablaze; policemen attached to the Ajao Estate Police Division were not involved in what happened. However, the Commissioner of Police has ordered investigation into the incident.”

A spokesperson for the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation and Special Offences Unit, Raheem Gbadeyinka, said no officer of the agency was involved in the operation.

He said, “The incident happened around 5am and as of 8am, our men were still at the office because we were looking for fuel for our patrol vans as of that time.”

Rtn. Victor Ojelabi

Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator and a recipient of the D9112 Superstar Icon Award, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.