A 32-year-old dispatch rider, identified as Emmanuel Jegede, has reportedly lost his life after suspected hoodlums allegedly pushed him off his motorcycle during an attempted extortion along the Ikotun-Idimu Road in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The tragic incident occurred around 10 a.m. on Wednesday shortly after the victim completed a delivery and was heading to another destination.
According to eyewitnesses, the rider was passing through the Alhaja area when two suspected hoodlums, said to be notorious for demanding money from motorists, allegedly tried to stop him. When he failed to comply, they reportedly pushed him while he was still riding, causing him to lose control of his motorcycle and crash into the road median.
An eyewitness said the impact was severe, and despite efforts by passersby to rescue him, the rider died at the scene.
Another resident disclosed that the victim had earlier been involved in a minor collision with a tricycle rider after emerging from a nearby street. The disagreement was reportedly settled peacefully by residents and some youths in the area, including the suspected hoodlums.
However, after resolving the dispute, the hoodlums allegedly demanded money from the dispatch rider for their intervention. When he reportedly told them he had no money, they allegedly lay in wait and attacked him as he continued his journey.
The suspects fled immediately after the incident, while officers from the Idimu Police Division later arrived at the scene and evacuated the victim’s body.
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Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, SP Abimbola Adebisi, said the police were investigating the circumstances surrounding the rider’s death.
She explained that officers received a report from a Federal Road Safety Corps official about a fatal accident and found the victim’s body beside his motorcycle.
According to Adebisi, investigators have received conflicting accounts of the incident. While one version suggests the rider lost control while trying to avoid a pedestrian, another claims some youths fled the scene immediately after the crash, raising suspicion that the rider may have been pushed before the accident.
She added that police are working to obtain CCTV footage from the area to establish exactly what happened.
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