The convoy of the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday apprehended two Nigerian Air Force cadets in the Mile 12 area of the state while dehumanising an artisan, Dahiru Lawal, for allegedly breaking the windscreen of a Chrysler Stratus car with registration number KRD 267 DV.
The cadets, Peters O. Solomon and Abdullahi Fahad, who claimed to be attached to the Air Force Base in Ikeja, had forced Lawal in the boot of their car after dragging him on the ground for the said offence.
Ambode, who was returning from an inspection visit to Agbowa in Ikorodu, saw the situation and swiftly intervened to save Lawal who was gasping for breath.
The governor wondered how such inhuman treatment could be meted to a fellow citizen just for slightly breaking the windscreen of a car.
When questioned by journalists, the cadets admitted putting Lawal in the boot of their car.
According to them, Lawal tried to escape after breaking the windscreen and ran into the nearby market where they eventually chased and apprehended him.
Peters said: “What happened is that the boy broke the windscreen in front of my car. When I stopped, I asked him to come, the boy ran away. We have to drag him back and put him in the boot
“I kind of threatened his boss that he is working with and when his boss came and looked at what he did to me, that was when I put him inside the boot for the remaining ones to go and call the boss. Not that I locked the boot, I only put him inside the boot, but I did not lock the boot.”
Abdullahi admitted that he and Peters were going along Mile 12 after visiting a friend when they saw a crack on their windscreen and they saw Lawal attempting to escape.
“We now run inside the market and dragged him (Lawal) down. I was even asking who he is working with because I want to see his Oga since I know he cannot repair my damaged windscreen. I want to see the man he is working with so that we can settle everything with him. I now told my colleague that we should hand him over to Air Force police at the Air Force Base,” Abdullahi said.
Narrating his ordeal in the hands of the cadets, Lawal who hails from Kaduna State, said he mistakenly damaged the windscreen with the load he carried, and that he took to his heels because he was afraid of what they might do to him.
He said: “I ran into the market and they pursued me and caught me inside the market. They started beating me and dragged me to their car.
“I ran because I was afraid of what the cadets might do to me, while my boss and people around begged on my behalf, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.”
“The police also came to plead with them to open the boot but they insisted on taking me away and it was at that point that the convoy of the governor arrived to rescue me from the boot of the car where they kept me.”
He added that he lost his cell phone and the sum of N5,000 which he had on him when he was being dragged on the floor.
Ambode had since ordered that the suspects be handed over to the police for further investigation and possible prosecution.
