Tears as driver killed by LASTMAmen is buried

The 54-year-old commercial bus driver, Isaac Popoola, who was allegedly killed by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, was on Thursday buried in his residence on 16 Ojo Ogundana Crescent, Akowonjo, Lagos.

Family members and friends especially bus drivers and conductors thronged his residence to pay their last respects. Prayers were also offered for those he left behind.

Tears flowed freely at the lying-in-state held before the burial. As the dust-to-dust rites were about to begin, his widow, Modupe, was repeatedly lamented, “My husband is gone.”

Rev. Julius Olumilara, the clergyman who conducted the burial service, asked the family members and friends of the deceased to put those responsible for his death in God’s “court.”

He said, “I’m glad with the testimony I heard about the life and times of the deceased. He has reached his own bus stop and that is why we also need to lead a good life.

“I know you are all embittered with the circumstances surrounding his death, but, let’s leave everything to God to judge as he is the superior being whom nobody can contend with.”

Popoola’s conductor, Aremu Salawu, who witnessed the incident, said he had yet to recover from the shock he suffered on that fateful day.

Salawu, who joined Popoola as a conductor in 2009, said the deceased helped him with the settlement of the debt he incurred in his failed business.

He said, “If I am to write the story of my life, Popoola will feature prominently in it as he saved me from the shackles of bad debt. When I approached him to be his conductor after my butchery business failed, he did not hesitate to help.

“Apart from paying me my daily entitlement as his conductor, he set aside money which he accumulated over the months which I used to clear my debts.

“It saddens my heart each time I remember that he is no more.”

A bus driver, Ameachi Onyema, while paying his tribute described Popoola as a detrabilised Nigerian.

He said, “Baba as we fondly called him was an agile, gentle and detrabilised man. He wasn’t a rich man, but whenever I take my financial problems to him, he gladly lent a helping hand.

“I remember a day I approached him for help, despite having only N500 on him, he still doled out N200 to me. He would be missed by all at the motor park.”

Popoola’s first son, Ibukunoluwa, lamented that neither the Lagos State Government nor the authorities of LASTMA had paid any form of condolences to his family.

He said he was very “disappointed and saddened” at the development, adding that all he wants now is that the culprits be “brought to book.”

He said, “Not even a telephone call from any government official to commiserate with our family on the loss we suffered. That shows how insensitive they are to our plight. He is not just our father but the breadwinner of the family.

“It saddens my heart and I feel disgraced as a Nigerian that the LASTMA officials who are working for the state killed my father, and the state government just kept quiet.”

Asked about the handling of investigation by the police, Ibukunoluwa said, “I’m in contact with the policemen handling the case  at the State Criminal Investigation Department.”

Popoola died after Adesanya Olatunde and Oludele Ogunrinde, both officials of LASTMA, allegedly hit his head against the steering and the door frame of his bus repeatedly in their attempt to forcibly take over the vehicle.

The incident happened around Brown Bus Stop in the Oshodi, on December 24. Popoola is survived by five children.