Commotion At Igando As Driver Lies Under V.I.O. Vehicle Saying He Wants To Die

A huge drama played out at Igando, a suburb of Lagos this afternoon as a taxi cab driver lay under the pick-up van of Vehicle Inspection Officers, commonly called V.I.O., praying them to run over him and end it all.

The cab driver had been apprehended by officials who claimed that his car lacked a lot of requirements stipulated by Lagos State law as necessary for vehicles plying roads in the state. However, just as the V.I.O. made to drive his vehicle to their office, the man jumped in front of their pick-up van and then dashed under it. He then began to cry that the officials issued him with a fine of N100,000 and that there was nowhere in the world he could raise the money.

Apparently, the officials at first thought that the taxi cab driver’s action was mere showmanship until they saw that the man was not responding to all entreaties made to him to come out. Indeed, the crowd which began to gather feared that the man could be dead already as he was lying on the hot, tarred road. Many people came up with sachets of water which they poured on the driver.

Soon, the crowd on the road increased to thousands of people and the Isheri-LASU Expressway, on one side became blocked. The crowd began to demand that the V.I.O. released the man’s car to him. The V.I.O. on their part refused to budge until policemen and soldiers pleaded with them to let the man go. Indeed, it was a military officer who persuaded the driver to come out.

Seeing that the man might eventually be persuaded to come out from under the vehicle, and determined to enforce the law, the V.I.O. officials went on to remove the number plates of the man’s taxi cab. It was clear they wanted to take them along to their office. Their thinking, perhaps, was that they could release the taxi cab to the man on that spot on the road but the number plates would be seized for further action.

That move was what transformed the crowd into protesters. It was all so apparent that the V.I.O. officers would come under attack in a matter of seconds. The crowd had become restive and were already hitting at the V.I.O.’s vehicle.

Again, the police and military officers intervened on both sides. The number plates and the cab were released to the driver and the crowd began to jubilate wildly.