The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has denied any involvement in the death of a man found hanging from a tree in the Ikorodu area of Lagos. The unidentified man, reportedly a tricyclist, allegedly committed suicide after failing to retrieve his seized tricycle from government agents.
An eyewitness, Prince Excel, shared a video on WhatsApp describing the incident: “This is early Thursday morning, July 11, 2024, an unfortunate situation just happened right now. A man just committed suicide on the major road at the Jubilee Estate in front of the LASTMA gate on the Sagamu Road. This is quite unfortunate.”
In a statement released on Friday, LASTMA refuted claims that their officers had impounded the deceased’s tricycle. The agency confirmed discovering the body on Thursday morning but stated that no one could definitively identify him as a tricyclist or motorcyclist from among the many operators who visited the scene.
“The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) wishes to debunk in no equivocal terms that its operatives are not responsible for the dead body found hanging by the gate of an Estate along Lagos – Shagamu Expressway, Lagos,” said Adebayo Taofiq, the agency’s spokesperson.
Taofiq added that there were various speculations about the man’s identity and circumstances of his death. Some believed he was dressed like a motorcyclist, while others thought he was a tricyclist. There were also suggestions that he might have been brought to the scene by killers who staged it to look like a suicide, as the victim’s leg was touching the ground.
The man’s body was eventually removed by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU), Yaba. LASTMA’s General Manager, Olalekan Bakare-Oki, expressed condolences to the deceased’s family and urged the public to verify information before spreading unfounded reports.