Lagos Dispatch Rider Dies After Allegedly Resisting Hoodlums’ Extortion

A 32-year-old dispatch rider, Emmanuel Jegede, has died after suspected hoodlums allegedly pushed him off his motorcycle during an alleged attempt to extort him along Ikotun-Idimu Road in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.

According to Punch, the incident occurred around 10am on Wednesday shortly after the rider completed a delivery and was heading to another destination.

Eyewitnesses said the deceased had earlier been involved in a minor collision with a tricycle rider after emerging from a street in the area.

Residents and some youths, including the suspected hoodlums, reportedly intervened and resolved the dispute peacefully.

However, the hoodlums allegedly demanded money from the dispatch rider for settling the matter.

According to an eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity, the rider explained that he had no money, a response that reportedly angered the suspects.

“The man had just finished making a delivery and was on his way to another location. Earlier, while coming out of a street, he mistakenly hit a tricycle rider. People in the area, including the boys, intervened and settled the issue.

“After everything was resolved, the boys demanded that he should settle them for helping him. He told them he did not have any money. They then crossed to the other side of the road and waited for him before pushing him in the process,” the eyewitness said.

Another witness said the rider was passing through the Alhaja area of Ikotun-Idimu Road when the suspected hoodlums confronted him.

“The rider was passing through the Ikotun-Idimu road, and when he got to Alhaja, two hoodlums who usually stay around the junction tried to stop him and suddenly pushed him while he was in motion.

“He lost control of the motorcycle, veered off the road and rammed into the median. By the time people got to the spot to rescue him, he had already died,” the source said.

The eyewitness added that the rider’s chest struck a culvert during the crash, causing fatal injuries.

The suspected hoodlums reportedly fled the scene immediately after the incident.

Officers from the Idimu Police Division later arrived at the scene and evacuated the deceased’s body.

Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, CSP Abimbola Adebisi, said the police had commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the rider’s death.

“A Federal Road Safety Corps officer came to the station and reported that he had seen a corpse at the scene of the accident. Our officers immediately visited the location and found the lifeless body of the victim alongside his motorcycle.

“When the police spoke with people in the area, we got two different versions of what happened. One account claimed that a pedestrian was trying to cross the road, and the rider lost control while attempting to avoid hitting the person.

“The second version was that some boys fled the scene immediately after the accident, raising suspicion that they might have attacked or pushed the rider before he crashed,” Adebisi said.

She added that investigators were working to obtain CCTV footage from the area to establish exactly what transpired.

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