Hoodlums allegedly attacked a driver, Dickson Okechukwu, and wrecked his vehicle for ramming into a motorcyclist and his passenger while driving against the traffic in the Alagbole area of Akute, Ogun State.
Okechukwu, who dwells in a nearby estate, attempted to save the Akute-bound motorcyclist and the lady he was conveying to a destination in the area when hoodlums numbering about 10 descended on him and a yet-to-be-identified person in his vehicle by hurling stones and iron objects at them.
The driver said he and the person in his vehicle abandoned the car for safety and quickly rushed the injured motorcyclist and passenger to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Speaking with The PUNCH, Okechukwu said the hoodlums stole his belongings in the car and damaged the vehicle, stealing one of the four tires including a spare tire, and the brain box.
He said, “Some of the boys who attacked me know that I live in the estate close to this place. They removed one of my car tires and stole the spare tire. The hoodlums carted away the brain box of my car and crushed it to ruin despite knowing that I was trying to save the injured motorcycle rider.
“Some officers of the Ajuwon Police Station came. I think some people called them when the hoodlums attacked me, damaged my car, and they left.”
Asked whether the matter had been reported at the nearest police station, Okechukwu declined to give further comments on the attack.
PUNCH reported that an eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said the hoodlums took laws into their hands, adding that the driver’s aim after the crash was to save the injured victims.
The eyewitness said, “The boys who attacked him know that he lives just a few meters from Akute. They came with iron objects that broke the windscreen and rear lights of the car. The victims did not die and they know that they were trying to take the injured victims to the hospital.”
During a visit to the Ajuwon Police Station on Monday to ascertain the outcome of the police investigation into the crash, the attack on the errant driver and the person he was carrying, and the progress of the injured victims in hospital, a policeman, while speaking to our correspondent, said Okechukwu had yet to make an official complaint about the incident.
The policeman, however, noted that the division was aware of the incident, adding that the driver was speeding on a one-way route when the accident happened.
He said, “The reason people of the community mounted a roadblock on the side of the road is to prevent cars from plying one-way direction. The driver disobeyed the traffic law. We cannot move further on any investigation unless he makes an official complaint.”
Efforts to get the state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, to react to the incident proved abortive as he had yet to respond to calls and a text message sent to his mobile phone as of the time this report was filed.