Tuesday 23 October 2012

Police versus motorcyclists’ war claims first casualty


cyclist, whose name was given as Alagede, has been confirmed dead during a scuffle between police officers and motorcyclists in Alakoku, near the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Lagos State, on Tuesday.
While some witnesses say the deceased was shot by a police officer when he resisted arrest, others claim the motorcyclist was crushed by a vehicle as he attempted to escape police arrest.
Commercial motorcyclists and security officials have been on the warpath since Monday when the state government began enforcement of its ban on motorcyclists plying 475 designated routes in the metropolis.
As at Tuesday, an estimated 3000 motorcycles have been seized and impounded at the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement Unit).
Following the death of Alagede, residents of the area and other commercial motorcyclists stormed the Alakuko Police Station, threatening to burn it down. Scores of anti-riot police officers have been deployed to the scene.
Efforts to contact Ngozi Braide, the Lagos police spokesperson, were unsuccessful as at the time of publishing this story as calls and text messages sent to her mobile phone went unanswered.

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