A yet-to-be-identified man, said to be a bike passenger, was seriously attacked and injured, in Ibadan, Oyo State, before being set ablaze by hoodlums on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, as he was suspected to be involved in bike snatching.
The incident occurred beside Methodist Grammar School, Bodija, Ibadan, near the railway crossing in the area.
The owner and rider of the motorcycle were also pummeled with sticks and cudgels by the hoodlums and was about to be set ablaze when he was rescued by policemen from Bodija Market Division.
Thenewsbearer learnt that the suspicion and following attack came as a result of non-registration of the motorcycle, which was suspected to be an instrument of snatching motorcycles, bags and other belongings.
It also took the intervention of policemen from Ashi Division, led by the Divisional Crime Officer, to rescue the passenger, as they fended off the hoodlums and quickly removed the burning tyres placed on top of him.
After curtailing the acts of the mob, the passenger was said to have been rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
The other person, who claimed ownership of the motorcycle he was riding, was also rushed to a local government hospital by the Bodija Market law enforcement agents.
Before he was saved, it was learnt he was hit with sticks and cudgels before he was stripped naked and sprinkled with petrol to also set him on fire.
On seeing the arrival of the police, the bike owner, who gave his name as Akeem Muritala, started screaming that he was a bike rider, and had just picked a passenger at Bodija Market entrance, on his way to Sango area, when he was challenged for riding an unregistered motorcycle.
Muritala said he even turned back to ask his challengers why they were accusing him wrongly.
However, he said they descended on him and his passenger and started shouting ‘thief, thief’, leading to a mob attack.
He added that his passenger started running to save his life when the mob became uncontrollable, saying he didn’t know what happened to the man.
Muritala also told Reporters At Large that he had papers of the bike which he got on hire purchase.
He disclosed that he had yet to register the motorcycle because of cash constraints.
Muritala praised the efforts of the policemen who rescued him, saying he would have been killed for no just cause.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed the attack on two persons by a mob, saying that one of them had been taken into custody at Ashi police station.
