Okada rider stabs peacemaker to death

By Nwopoke Michael
An Ebute-meta chief magistrate’s court, Lagos, presided over  by Mrs. Kemi Doja-Ojo, has ordered that a 23 year-old, commercial motorcyclist, Jigila Ibrahim, be remanded in prison custody for allegedly stabbing a 43 year-old Talabi Ademola to death with a screw-driver.

The okada rider was alleged to have stabbed the deceased to death on 13 January, at about 4.50pm, while the deceased was trying to settle the disagreement that ensued between the accused and a passenger over a fare.

Ibrahim was arraigned before the court on a count charge of murder, an offence which according to the prosecutor, Iyobosa I. (a woman police corporal,) is punishable under section 221 of the criminal law of Lagos state of Nigeria, 2011.

According to the prosecutor, “on the day of the incident, a passenger hired the accused from Opebi to a Total filling station at Oregun, and they bargained for N200, but on return from the trip the passenger offered the Okada rider N120,instead of  the agreed N200 and this resulted in a fight during which the accused( the Okada rider) brought out a screwdriver from his motorcycle and stabbed the deceased who was trying to settle the rift between the okada rider and the passenger, at the left side of the chest.”

She said the deceased who before the ugly incident  was on his own separate business off-loading cement from a truck, was confirmed dead at the Lagos State University Teaching hospital (LASUTH).  Though, the okada rider pleaded not guilty to the charge, his plea was not taken by the  magistrate. The magistrate however ordered the prosecutor to duplicate the case file and forward it to the  office of Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for advice, while the matter was adjourned till 15 February, for mention.