Drama unfolds as mobile police officer and Uber driver brawl in Lagos
A spectacular altercation broke out on Monday in the Ogba neighbourhood of Lagos State when a Mobile Police officer and an e-hailing driver collided at Wempco Road.
It was discovered that the driver reduced his speed to a zebra crossing so that a pedestrian might use it while he was travelling through the area.
However, the policeman who was also crossing the street at that moment struck the car’s bonnet and charged the driver with trying to hit him.
The driver snapped and demanded to know why he wanted to wreck his ride.
Johnson Sule, a local who saw the events unfold, told newsmen that the policeman became irritated by the inquiry and proceeded to aggressively open the car door, yank the driver out, and begin punching him.
He said, “The driver waited for the pedestrians to take the Zebra crossing, but the Mopol just rushed and accused him of trying to hit him. That was how it all started. He dragged him out of his car and started to beat him up.
“It got to a point that the driver could no longer bear the assault again and while trying to resist him, he injured the policeman on his arm and he started to bleed.”
Other Mobile Police officers were reported to have been drawn to the interaction and to have stopped by to support their comrade. It was said that the driver was pulled to the station after being apprehended during the process.
Newsmen were informed by another e-hailing driver, identified only as Abayomi, that the rider’s pledge to cover the injured police officer’s medical expenses was necessary for the driver to be released from custody.
He said, “The driver only tried to defend himself while the Mopol officer punched him. The officer even almost hit the driver’s head on the culvert and he intentionally did that to make him unconscious. He could have died as a result of that. Other officers who intervened were less concerned about how the altercation started. They only supported their colleague and accused him of fighting with a police officer in uniform before they took him to the station.
“It was the rider who had tried to settle the matter that had to pay for the treatment of the police before the driver was released.”
Proofreading by Uchechi Ojo, Sub-editor at Neptune Prime.
