In full public glare, a soldier yesterday flogged a Lagbus driver for alleged rough driving on the Marina in Lagos.
The soldier accused the driver of endangering the lives of passengers in a commercial bus populary called Danfo in which he was riding.
He ordered the Danfo driver to chase the Lagbus bus vehicle and block it on top of the bridge on the Marina. The soldier snatched a cane from some motor unionists in the area, and jumped into the Lagbus vehicle.
He whipped the Lagbus driver, Idowu Kolawole, on the head repeatedly with the cane and dug his boots into the driver’s side.
Shocked passengers inside the BRT bus which was heading for Oshodi from Marina appealed to the soldier to stop beating the driver.
“Oga sorry, it is enough,” some of them said.
“Are the people in that Danfo bus not human beings?” the soldier retorted before storming off.
The passengers, however, said the Danfo driver was at fault.
They said the Danfo driver, who had stopped illegally to pick passengers, moved abruptly forcing the BRT bus coming behind him to swerve sharply to avoid hitting the bus and other vehicles.
A female passenger said: “It was the Danfo driver that was at fault. If the BRT driver had not swerved, he would have hit the bus and some of the passengers would have been injured. He did what he could to avert trouble yet he was punished.”
Kolawole, welts on the back and side of his neck, said: “The man just used his power on me. If he had been inside the Lagbus vehicle and witnessed what the Danfo driver did, he would have jumped down to beat the driver.
“The driver did not watch the road before he moved so I was forced to swerve to avoid hitting the car on the fast lane on my left. Because of him, the soldier beat me and even used his boot to kick my side. Unfortunately, I did not see his (the soldier’s) name well enough to identify him,” he said.
Passengers sympathised with Kolawole and consoled him as they disembarked from the bus at Oshodi.
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