JUST-IN: Police find slain driver’s truck at LASTMA office, arrest 2 officials

The controversy over who fired the shot that killed a tanker driver at the Mile 2, along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Lagos, two days ago (Tuesday) has continued to rage…..CONTINUE READING…CONTINUE READING

The Lagos State Police Command, on the orders of the state commissioner of police, Mr. Idowu Owohunwa, traced the truck to the office of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and has taken over the vehicle to continue investigation into the killing.

The police also arrested two officials of LATSMA to throw more light on how the vehicle that was the bone of contention was found on the premises of their office.

There has been controversy over the particular security agency or formation that shot dead a tanker driver, Toheeb Girisi, last Tuesday. Reports had it that the driver was shot by a policeman attached to the Lagos State Task Force, but the task force has refuted the allegation, saying its officials were not on duty at the scene of the incident.

In a statement by the director of press and public affairs, Lagos State Task Force, Mr. Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, the agency stated that none of its personnel was posted out for operations on Tuesday, except for officers posted to Freedom Park, Ojota, and Maryland to maintain peace and order where rallies by the Nigeria Labour Congress were scheduled.

Meanwhile, a source told Daily Sun that the truck was found in the LASTMA yard in Oshodi after a search by friends of the deceased.

The source, a member of tanker drivers’ union who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “After the incident, some colleagues of Toheeb decided to embark on a search to locate where the vehicle was driven to.

Around 2pm, we got a call from them that the truck had been found at the LASTMA yard. So, the police were immediately alerted.

“We were told that the police went to the place and discovered that there were two officials of LASTMA fingered to be responsible for towing the truck to the LATSMA yard. The commissioner of police promised us that he would track the location of the truck. So, we learnt he has ordered them to bring the truck to the police command.”

Reacting to the development, LATSMA’s public relations officer, Mr.Taofiq Adebayo, said the rescue team of the agency towed the truck to the office: “We got a distress call that there was an abandoned vehicle at Cele Bus Stop around 6:30am. In order to prevent an avoidable accident, our rescue team went to the location to recover the vehicle, and brought it down to our office.

“We did not know what transpired. It was later that we got to know that they were looking for a vehicle, which was discovered to be in our compound. I can’t speak more than this, because the matter is under investigation at the police command.”

A police source also confirmed to our correspondent that the truck had been taken to the state police command’s headquarters.

“The truck was brought to the command on Tuesday evening after some truck drivers notified the police of its location. Investigation is ongoing to unravel the cause of the incident and fish out the culprits,” he said.

Corroborating the report, Lagos State Police Public Relation Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the truck was found in the compound of LASTMA, and two suspects have arrested in connection with the case…..CONTINUE READING