Rita Odafe
Olalekan Bakare-Oki
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has clarified that its officials were not involved in the unfortunate incident where a body was found hanging near an estate along the Lagos-Sagamu Expressway. The General Manager of LASTMA, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, made this known in a statement released by Mr Taofiq Adebayo, the agency’s Director of Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department.
Bakare-Oki dismissed the rumors circulating on social media that suggested the deceased’s vehicle had been impounded by LASTMA officers. He confirmed that the body was discovered in the early hours of Thursday by passersby who promptly reported it to the police along Shagamu Road.
“Various speculations arose among onlookers at the scene. Some speculated that he looked like a motorcyclist (okada rider), while others thought he might be a tricyclist (Marwa rider).
“There were even theories that his killers may have brought him to the location in the dead of night, staging it to appear as suicide since the victim’s leg was touching the ground.
“No one could positively identify him as either an okada or Marwa rider among the many who visited the scene.
“The incident is unfortunate, occurring near an estate gate along the Lagos-Sagamu Expressway,” Bakare-Oki stated.
He extended condolences to the deceased’s family and cautioned against spreading baseless reports without verifying the information first.
“The deceased’s body has been removed by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit in Yaba, Lagos,” he added.
