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The Enugu State Ministry of Transport has dismissed claims from unverified reports that officers from its Vehicle Inspection Unit caused the death of a Tricycle (Keke) rider.
The Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Ministry of Transport, Odumegwu Chinwendu, who stated this in a rebuttal made available to our correspondent on Wednesday, maintained that the purported claim in a trending viral video is false.
A circulating video seen by our correspondent on Wednesday showed a tricycle rider lying lifeless after an incident involving a VIO Marshal, who was reportedly chasing the rider.
A young female VIO was seen in the video badly wounded on her right leg.
However, the incident, it was gathered happened on Thursday, October 24, 2024, when the tricycle driver was stopped at WAEC Junction by VIO officials following a traffic offence.
An official reportedly entered the tricycle and he was asked to drive his Keke to the Ministry of Transport which is located around the junction.
Speaking with our correspondent, Chinwendu said that the driver zoomed off and with an incredible speed, the tricycle somersaulted and he fell off with the VIO official that was in the Keke.
While the VIO official sustained serious injury and was immediately rushed to hospital, the driver of the tricycle, according to her lay down pretending to have died but without any injuries. Consequently, his pretence to be dead attracted sympathies.
“Upon receiving the information, authorities led by the State Chief Vehicle Inspection Officer, Mr Val Chime rushed to the scene. Unfortunately, on arriving there, the supposedly dead tricycle driver rose, dashed to his Keke which the windshield had already fallen off and ran away. Meanwhile, the matter had been reported to the police and the investigation is ongoing,” the PRO narrated.
Corroborating the PRO, the Chief Vehicle Inspection Officer, Mr Val Chime, stated that it was his staff who sustained several bruises and a fracture and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she is receiving treatment.
The VIO chief explained that upon hearing the report, he rushed to the scene, where it was observed that the tricycle rider, an unidentified Hausa man, immediately stood up and fled with his tricycle, from which the windscreen had fallen as a result of the incident, after learning that the VIO marshal had been taken to the hospital.
He, however, advised the public to disregard the fake report circulating on social media regarding the incident, noting that nobody died.
“I advise motorists to always be law-abiding, respectful, and cooperative with all law enforcement agents in the state and beyond,” he appealed noting that the accident wouldn’t have happened if the driver had obeyed.
