A motorcycle passenger jumped into a canal to avoid arrest and died in the Ipaja area of Lagos State on Wednesday.
The spokesman for the state police command, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in a post on his verified X handle on Friday.
He added that the incident occurred at about 10:00 a.m. in the Mosan Okunola area of Ipaja.
Hundeyin dismissed as a lie the report that the man had encountered the police who chased him into the canal.
The spokesman said: “The police visited the scene and met eyewitnesses on ground who voluntarily gave their statements regarding the unfortunate incident.
“The young man was a passenger on a motorcycle, riding against the traffic.
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“Immediately they sighted the police approaching in their vehicle, the rider made a sharp u-turn while the passenger jumped off the motorcycle, crossed the road and ran through a nearby tipper garage.
“People in the garage saw him running towards the canal and at the same time emptying the contents of his pockets agitatedly warned him about a canal ahead.
“He did not stop but unfortunately jumped into the canal.
“The people around informed the police that the young man had jumped into the canal.
“They all went to look, waited some minutes, did not see him, upon which the police left, believing he successfully evaded them.
“The police officers did not speak with him; did not touch him, did not chase him, did nothing. The young man simply saw them and bolted.”
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