An officer of the Nigeria Police Force, Inspector Bulus Joel, has been allegedly killed by a suspected hit-and-run driver on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the late hours of Tuesday.
PUNCH Metro gathered from an eyewitness on Thursday that the 43-year-old inspector was on an official duty at about 11:55 p.m. on Tuesday when the said driver rammed him down along the corridor of the expressway, leaving him with a serious head injury.
An eyewitness who did not want to be mentioned because of the sensitivity of the accident told our correspondent that the deceased victim was on a routine patrol along with his other colleagues when they discovered there was traffic congestion in the corridor.
While making efforts to ease the traffic congestion on the corridor, a driver was said to have hurriedly run off his line and knocked the officer to the ground.
The eyewitness said, “It was as if the driver intentionally knocked down the officer because he didn’t stop even after seeing that he had knocked down a police officer.
“I’m also shocked that none of the other motorists made any attempt to pursue him. He was taken to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, for medical attention.”
However, our correspondent learnt that Inspector Joel was confirmed dead by a doctor on duty.
Confirming the incident to PUNCH Metro on Thursday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Odutola Omolola, described the death of the policeman as callous while faulting other motorists who could not help to prevent the suspect from absconding.
She said, “Policemen are human. And they also have family members. Did no one see the driver knock down a police officer who was on duty and who was helping to ease traffic? Social media is quiet. No one is calling the police headquarters.
“All the other motorists who were there didn’t take pictures or videos. None of the motorists whom the policeman was helping made any attempt to stop the driver. Are policemen not humans? Don’t we also have family members? No one could even pursue the hit-and-run driver.”
Odutola, however, revealed that the corpse of the cop had been deposited at the teaching hospital morgue.
PUNCH Metro reports that Inspector Joel was the third reported police officer to be killed by a hit-and-run driver in four years.
Last year, an Assistant Superintendent of Police attached to the Ondo State Police Command was killed by a suspected hit-and-run driver.
Also in 2020, a police officer who was on his way to resume duty was reportedly killed by another suspected hit-and-run driver in Lagos.