A mob, on Monday morning, attempted to lynch a middle-aged man caught with over 100 pieces of used baby diapers and a huge sum of money in Lagos.
The man was caught after the tricycle which he, along with three others were travelling in, had a head-on collision with a Toyota Camry car at Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos.
The impact pushed the tricycle onto a fully loaded Mazda commercial bus that was also heading to Iyana-Ipaja.
Rescuers who rushed to the scene to offer help discovered one of the bags to be filled with used diapers.
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On inquiry, the rescuers discovered that the bag and its content belonged to one of the victims of the accident.
Sources said the rescuers were angered by the fact that the middle-aged man could not give a satisfactory account of how he got the diapers and what he intended to do with them.
Shade Olojo, a trader at Iyana-Ipaja, said the crowd descended on the middle-aged man and gave him the beating of his life.
“The mob almost killed the man if not for the timely arrival of officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to the scene,” she said.
Another witness, John Anaekwe, a commercial tricycle operator in the area, alleged that the crowd were surprised at the quantity of used baby diapers and the huge cash found on the man.
“He could not explain what he wanted to do with the diapers. The crowd labelled him a ritualist and was about to kill him when the LASTMA men arrived,” he said.
The Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department of LASTMA, Adebayo Taofiq, who confirmed the incident, said one of the victims of the crash died on the way to hospital.
He said operatives of the LASTMA on Monday rescued three severely injured accident victims, comprising two males and a female, at Mosalasi Round-About inward Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos.
He said the accident involved three vehicles, a Mazda commercial bus (FKJ 88 XH), a tricycle (Keke Marwa KJA 369 QM) and a white Camry car (KJA 351 HG).
He said preliminary investigation revealed that the driver of the Camry lost control and ran into a commercial tricycle from the rear and that the tricycle went off balance and obstructed another upcoming fully loaded Mazda commercial bus going to Iyana-Ipaja.
“One of the passengers inside the commercial tricycle involved in the accident was caught with more than 100 pieces of used small children’s diapers and a huge sum of money of different denominations.
“He was rescued from being lynched by a mob and was immediately handed over to the police,” he said.
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