Ekiti police, bereaved family disagree over Kwara driver’s death

A driver at the Offa Garage Motor Park in Ilorin, Kwara State, simply identified as Habibu, has died after he allegedly ran into a commercial Mitsubishi Golf along the Kwara-Ekiti highway.

It was gathered that the incident later resulted in a disagreement among the police in Ekiti State, the family of the deceased and a passenger, Mohammed Jamiu, over the circumstances of the death.

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He was buried at the Muslim cemetery at Osere during the weekend.

According to findings by City & Crime, Jamiu had requested the deceased, whom he had patronised over the years, to convey a fairly used motorcycle he had bought to Ekiti State.

“After we discussed on phone, I gave him the number to call when he gets there because I didn’t go with him. He charged me N10,000 which I paid him. But while I was taking the machine to the park, it developed a fault. It was while I was fixing it that he came and said his vehicle was almost filled up and went away with the motorcycle.

“It was when my elder brother, who was waiting for him at Ekiti, called that they were yet to see him around evening that I went to the park only to learn that he was supposed to travel the next day according to their schedule.

“What he did was to ride the motorcycle to Ekiti himself without my knowledge and that of the park management because of the money, since he was not travelling that day and did not want to lose the N10,000.

“But he died along the road when he ran into a commercial Golf car. When we went to Ekiti to recover his corpse”, I was wrongly accused of dealing with him without the knowledge of the park,’’ Jamiu, a resident of Osere, who said his motorcycle was yet to be released, added.

But speaking on the issue Tuesday, the deputy chairman of the park, Mr Ado said they initially did not want to get involved because the deceased acted outside the park rules but reconsidered the decision.

“I am talking to you now from Omo-Aran on my way from Ekiti to Ilorin. We have resolved the issue, and the machine has been collected from the police station in Ekiti.

“What has happened is unfortunate, but it will serve as a lesson to other drivers and passengers,” he added.