Tricycle rider drags to his death by driver

The picture above is that of 28-year old tricycle rider, Onu Kingsley, whose life has been cut short after the driver of a Toyota Corolla, identified simply as Kingsley, allegedly dragged him on the road and crashed his body against a hurdle.

The incident was said to have happened on the Apapa Road, Ebute Meta area of Lagos State on Saturday evening.

Punch Metro reported that, Onu had just alighted from his tricycle, popularly known as Keke to complain that Kingsley had hit his motorcycle and injured one of his passengers, when the driver ignored him and attempted to drive off.

On seeing this, Onu was said to have pulled him by his shirt in a bid to stop him from escaping, but the driver of the Corolla wound up his window glass with the Onu’s hand stuck and raced down the Apapa Road, dragging him on the road in the process.

Sadly, a friend of Onu who lives in the same room with him, Emmanuel Esan said, “We were together in the room that evening because we lived together. He did not plan to go out that day, but because there was no electricity, he decided to go out and make some money.”

I suddenly woke up around 12 midnight and didn’t see him by my side. I decided to call his telephone line, but the person who picked it said the owner of the phone had been injured in an accident and was at the police station.”

He said he never knew his friend had died until someone broke the news to him while he was heading for the Iponri Police Station.

He further said that, Onu might not have died if he had been helped to the hospital on time.

“I learnt he was on the accident spot for over two hours before the police arrived and took them to the station. He was asked to make statement, together with the driver. It was on the way to hospital that he died,’ he added.

Onu, he said, had only just recently bought an application form to run a part time academic programme at Yaba College of Technology, when fate struck.

Since he died, his body had been lying there at the Mainland General Hospital Mortuary.

May his soul rest in peace.

I just think our police should priortise life over duty. You see a person injured but you are more concerned about taking him to your station to file a report as against taking him to the hospital to receive treatment.

Or your allow him to bleed at the point of the accident while you discuss the issue, the important thing is the life of the person injured and not who is right or wrong. Until the police gets this little details right, they will never be the friend of the people, no matter how much they keep saying that are.