But for the intervention of the police, a 26-year-old motocyclist, Tunde
Adewale, would have died after a mob attacked him on Ijegun Community
Road in the Ikotun area of Lagos.
PUNCH Metro learnt
that a mob had gathered round Adewale and beaten him to stupor on the
allegation that he aided two robbers to escape on his motorcycle.
Our correspondent gathered that a police patrol team from the Ikotun
Police Division later found the motorcyclist in a pool of blood and
abandoned by the roadside.
A police source told our correspondent that residents, who attacked Adewale, also suspected that he was a robber.
He said, “The people in the area believed that he was an armed robber.
That was why he suffered a mob attack. They were three on the motorcycle
and when residents tried to accost them, two of them escaped.
“So, the people pounced on him and beat him up. He was later abandoned
by the roadside, where the police picked him up. He was still breathing,
but his face was covered with blood and bruises.”
After the policemen rescued him, our correspondent learnt that the suspect was transferred to SARS for further investigation.
According to a resident, identified simply as Kolawole, Adewale was
beaten up after the two men, who residents suspected to be robbers, ran
away when they were questioned.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro,
Adewale, who has regained consciousness, said he was not a robber,
adding that he suspected that the passengers he picked were cult
members.
The Irewole, Osun State-indigene, said, “It was actually the two
passengers that wanted to snatch my motorcycle. I later learnt they were
cult boys. People who noticed later came around and started beating me
up without an explanation.
“I was mistaken for a robber. They attacked and abandoned me by the roadside. I am still in pains.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, could not be reached for comments.
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