Governor Ambode Frees Artisan Locked In Boot By Airforce Cadets

• Air Force cadets – Abdullahi Fahad(left) and Peter Solomon – after they were apprehended by the convoy of Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, for locking an artisan, Dahiru Lawal, in a boot at Mile 12, Lagos ... on Wednesday. Photo: Lagos State Government House

The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday arrested two Nigerian Air Force cadets in the Mile 12 area of the state. The cadets were nabbed while dehumanizing an artisan, Dahiru Lawal, for allegedly breaking the windscreen of a Chrysler Stratus car with number plate, KRD 267 DV.

The Punch report continues:

The cadets – Peters Solomon and Abdullahi Fahad ─ who claimed to be attached to the Air Force base in Ikeja, had forced Lawal into the boot of their vehicle for the said offence.

Ambode, who was returning in a convoy from an inspection visit to Agbowa in Ikorodu, freed Lawal, who was gasping for breath.

He said, “How such inhuman treatment could be meted to a fellow citizen just for slightly breaking the windscreen of a car is beyond me.”

He ordered that the cadets be handed over to the police for investigation.

The cadets, however, said Lawal tried to escape after breaking the windscreen.

They explained that he ran into a nearby market where they eventually apprehended him.

Solomon said, “What happened was that the boy broke the windscreen of my car. When I stopped, I asked him to come, but he ran away. We had to drag him back and put him in the boot. Not that I locked the boot, I only put him in the boot, but I did not lock it.”

Abdullahi, however, said they were waiting for Lawal’s boss when the governor intervened.

“I wanted to see the man he was working with so that we could settle everything with him,” Abdullahi said.

While narrating his ordeal, Lawal said he mistakenly damaged the windscreen with the load he carried, adding that he took to his heels because he was afraid of what the cadets might do to him.

“After they put me in the boot, some policemen came to plead with them to open the boot, but they insisted on taking me away and it was at that point that the convoy of the governor arrived,” Lawal said.