HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER CRUSHES OWN CONDUCTOR TO DEATH

FRANKLIN ONWUBIKO - The police in Lagos have arrested a truck driver for allegedly crushing his conductor to death in the Tin-Can Island, Apapa area of Lagos State.
It was learnt that...
the truck driver had parked the vehicle
along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, while the conductor went
to Olodi-Apapa Lagoon to ease himself around 8pm on
Tuesday.
Eyewitnesses said the conductor was returning to the truck
when the driver ran over him and sped off.
It was learnt that after the incident occurred, the Area B
Commander was called after which other policemen in the
area were radioed.
A police source said, "ACP Muhammed Ali was alerted and
he, in turn, called the divisional police officers under his
command to ensure that the truck did not escape from their
divisions. When the policemen arrived at the scene, some
truck drivers and conductors protested that the corpse
should not be removed.
"It took the police team commander some minutes to
persuade the angry drivers. They later allowed the
policemen to take the corpse to the general hospital."
Our correspondent learnt that the DPO, Layeni Police
Station, CSP Chijioke Ndu, led a team of police patrol team
to man the Mile 2 end of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
The policemen attached to Layeni police station were able
to stop the truck with their patrol vehicle and arrested the
driver.
It was learnt that the suspect was transferred to the Area
'B' Command.
Police sources, however, told PUNCH Metro that
investigations were on to determine if the driver
deliberately killed the victim or if it was a mistake.
"The driver is claiming he mistakenly killed the victim but
why did he not wait after killing his assistant? We will get
to the bottom of the case and he will be charged to court," a
source said.
When contacted on the telephone, Police Public Relations
Officer, Ngozi Braide, said "A pedestrian, Toheeb Wahab,
was crushed by a truck driver, Ismaila Raji, while Wahab
was crossing towards Tincan Second Gate, Mile 2. After
hitting Wahab, the truck driver sped off. After being
pursued, he was arrested at Mile 2. The suspect is being
detained at Layeni Police Station."