A yet-to-be-identified tricyclist has reportedly killed himself over his inability to recover his seized tricycle from some government agents.
The incident happened in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State on Thursday.
The deceased, it was gathered, was heading to a destination in the state with his tricycle when the officials flagged him down him for an offence.
Following the interception, the officers reportedly confiscated the tricycle and took it to their office located close to the Jubilee Estate, along the Ikorodu-Sagamu Expressway.
Efforts by the tricycle operator to retrieve his tricycle from the officials proved abortive as the government officials did not bulge.
Frustrated, downcast and forlorn of hope, the crestfallen tricyclist, in protest the seizure of his tricycle, went to a tree at the front of the fence of a compound and hanged himself.
The compound where he killed himself is where the offices of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, and Vehicle Inspection Officers are situated, close to the Jubilee Estate, along the Ikorodu-Sagamu Expressway,
An eyewitness, Prince Excel of Aiyekooto Reporters, in a video posted on WhatsApp, described the case as unfortunate, noting that the man killed himself on Thursday morning.
He said, “This is early Thursday morning, July 11, 2024, an unfortunate situation just happened right now. A man just committed suicide on the major road at the Jubilee Estate infront of the LASTMA gate on the Sagamu Road. This is quite unfortunate.”
In the video, the man’s lifeless body hung from a tree with a rope tied around his neck.
A text captioning Excel’s video alleged that the tricyclist committed the act because efforts to retrieve his seized tricycle proved abortive.
The note read, “A tricyclist, Keke Marwa rider, just committed suicide. He hanged himself in front of LASTMA’s office at Odogunyan in Ikorodu.
“Reportedly, his Keke was taken from him. He begged them (for) so long but they refused. So, the man decided to hang himself in front of their (office). So sad.”
However, the spokesperson for LASTMA, Taofiq Adebayo, denied the involvement of the agency and its officers in the incident.
He said no tricycle was seized by any of the officers working under the agency in the area.
“We don’t know anything about the incident. And within our premises, we don’t have any tricycle impounded by any of our officers in that area. So, LASTMA is not involved in anything of such, and we don’t know anything about the hanging of the dead body,” Adebayo said
