Police Inspector dies after falling off speeding 'Danfo' bus

A 40-year-old 'Danfo' (commercial bus) driver, Moshood Ekunsumi, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly causing the death of an Inspector of Police, Stephen Nzerem, 51, who allegedly fell off a bus driven by Ekunsumi along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway as he was trying to stop the driver and seize his vehicle so that he and his team could use it for patrol.

The report carried by the Punch indicate that a police team had flagged down the vehicle which plied the Airport Road axis of the state with the intention of using it for an operation but the driver who knew what they wanted to do, quickly sped off.

But Inspector Nzerem who was the leader of the team, was said to have jumped onto the vehicle to apprehend the driver but the driver was said to have taken the victim away and was speeding when another vehicle crossed his path and he stepped on the brake pedal, leading to the officer falling off and an oncoming trailer crushed him to death on the spot.

It was learnt that although both the policeman and the conductor were flung off the bus as the brake was applied, only the inspector died as his skull was smashed by the articulated vehicle, while the driver and the conductor fled the scene and abandoned the bus.

The police, however, arrested the owner of the vehicle, Joseph Otaru, who later produced the driver.

The suspect, a father of three who has been arraigned before an Ebute-Meta Magistrates' Court on two counts of murder, however said his action was not intentional.

“I did not do it intentionally. It was not the first time that the police would hijack our vehicle for their operation.

But that day, I did not know what happened to me. The policeman just clung to the vehicle and because I was on motion, I could not stop. I applied the brakes and he fell off the bus and died. I regret my action.”

The police in their charge sheet, claimed that Ekunsimi pushed the Inspector to his death, an angle which the trial magistrate, Mrs. H.O. Omisore, did not buy.

Omisore however, berated the police for wanting to forcefully take over the bus when the driver was not willing to release it, pointing out that what happened did not qualify for the murder charge brought by the police.

She, thereafter, adjourned the matter till Monday, January 18, 2016, for ruling.