Man Commits Suic*de Over Inability To Raise N215,000 To Bail Truck

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

Facts have emerged on how a truck owner, Fatai Salami, committed suicide inside premises of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement office over inability to raise N215, 000 fine imposed on him for traffic offence.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that there was commotion in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where the incident happened on Monday 20th July, 2020, as Salami, having gotten frustrated, drank some quantity of a substance suspected to be insecticide,  known as ‘Sniper’, which had killed many people within minutes after taking it.

Salami died at the premises of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement (TRACE) centre, where he was allegedly asked to pay a fine of N215,000 for violation of the Covid-19 lockdown directives in the State.

It was gathered that Salami”s truck was seized by the TRACE agents for about five days in Abeokuta. He was allegedly asked to pay the fine for failing to abide by the Covid-19 Lockdown orders, which included social distancing and not wearing facemask. He went to plead with the officials for the release of the truck but it was a fruitless mission. When he continued pleading and being dragged around by the TRACE officials, he became frustrated and that led him to opting for the poison.

Mr. Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer of TRACE, confirmed the death of the deceased in Abeokuta at the TRACE premises. However, Akinbiyi said that the deceased was neither the truck driver nor the owner.

“The man was neither the truck owner nor the driver. One of our officials and people around saw him sitting on the floor and they asked him to stand up. As he stood up, he brought out something from his pocket an drank it.”
“It was later on, after he had lost consciousness and was being rushed to the hospital, that we looked at what he drank and found out it was Sniper.”
“One of his bosses, who also stood around, saw him drink it and screamed but before they could reach out to him, it had gone down his throat.”
“After we rushed him to a nearby hospital in Ijaye, he couldn’t make it back to life. We have reported the case at Ibara Police Station here in Abeokuta.”

He denied the allegation that TRACE charged Fatai a fine of N215,000 for flouting the lockdown rules and said that they later found out that Fatai was a manager that looked after a fleet of trucks owned by another person. He said the owner of the truck company had warned Fatai to either return the seized truck or risk losing his job.

“We can’t say, but may be that’s why he committed suicide. He chose to die than lose his job. It’s so sad and unfortunate.”
“So, he was neither a driver nor a truck owner, we don’t know what he came here to do.”
“Most of them normally come to the premises, so his case is not different. But whoever violates the lockdown rules will be fined and if the fine is too high for him to pay, he has the right to report the agency” Babatunde concluded.