From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
There was pandemonium in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Wednesday, when three revenue collectors, suspected to be from the Oyo State Park Management System, a commercial motorcyclist to death over refusal to purchase N100 daily ticket.
The incident occurred at Queen Cinema, Dugbe, Ibadan. But other motorcyclists reportedly descended on the revenue collectors and beat them mercilessly. But for the quick intervention of men of Oyo State Police Command, more death would have been recorded.
The mob later took the lifeless body of the dead okada rider to the Oyo State Government Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, and requested to see Governor Seyi Makinde. But security operatives locked the entrance gate of the secretariat and prevented the mob from taking the dead body to the Governor’s Office.
But the Executive Assistant to the governor on security matters, Sunday Odukoya, attended to them, saying the matter would be investigated and the government would ensure that justice is done on the incident.
As gathered, trouble began when one of the revenue collectors flagged down the motorcyclist along the ever-busy Mokola-Dugbe road and asked him to purchase the N100 daily ticket. But the motorcyclist refused to purchase the ticket on the grounds that he did not have money.
The revenue collector and the motorcyclist reportedly engaged in altercation. Then, two other revenue collectors in the vicinity moved to the scene and began to beat the motorcyclist, who was said to have put up a defence. In the process, one of the revenue collectors, purportedly gave the motorcyclist a deadly blow, which was said to have made him unconscious and lost his life in the process. Some of the eyewitnesses alleged that the revenue collector must have beaten the motorcyclist with a charm.
One of the eyewitnesses, who introduced himself as Seun, stated: “I was going home when I noticed two guys fighting. One hit the other one. The one who retaliated was said to have ‘oruka’, a charmed ring. Immediately he retaliated, the other guy went down on the spot and that was how the fight escalated.
“The okada guy fainted, even at this point, we didn’t know if he was still alive. He was rushed to the nearby Queens Hospital and the hospital rejected him, probably because it was not the kind of issue they attend to.
“They were three guys (revenue collectors) and they were badly beaten by the okada guys and that is because the okada guys were fighting for one of their own.
“It took the intervention of a team of patrol policemen from Mokola Divisional Police Headquarters to avert further bloodletting. The policemen were said to have whisked the revenue collectors away and carried the motorcyclist from the hospital.”
But some motorcyclists who spoke with journalists decried the excesses of the park managers as they appealed to the state government to call the park managers to order.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the state, Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the incident to journalists in Ibadan, adding that investigation had commenced into the matter.