A lounge in Lagos has explained the reasons they could not prevent the mob attack that led to the lynching of David Imoh, a sound engineer, by commercial motorcyclists (popularly called Okada riders) in the Lekki area of the state.
Beer Barn said in a statement on Monday that the deceased, 38, and a live band were invited to entertain its customers.
But trouble started when they heard a commotion at their entrance and the mob requested that the sound engineer be brought out.
“We requested to know what the issue was and members of the mob replied that somebody from our facility had used a charm to hit one of its members, who was presumed dead” the statement read.
“While we were engaging the mob, David, who was alleged to have used the charm came out of our facility and the mob forcibly took him away from our premises insisting that he was a yahoo boy (internet fraudster) trying to use the victim for a money ritual.
“Our internal security men couldn’t stop them despite their best efforts. Outside our facility, some members of the irate mob made up of commercial motorcyclists surrounded the car in which the founder of the live band and three other hand members were locked.”
Beer Barn’s account differs from that posted by some social media users who accused the lounge of not doing enough to save Mr Imoh.
The painful part is that the true story isn’t been told. The Dave and friends ran into bear ban lounge when the problem started because they worked at bear ban only for the owner of bear ban to give them bAck to the hausa riders. It’s a painful death in a place like lekki1
— Iamkelaman (@kelvinamani) May 15, 2022
Police say they have arrested four persons in connection with the incident, and the Lagos State task force has begun to crack down on commercial motorcyclists in the area.
Irate mob
Beer Barn, in its statement, said there were three naval officers who were present during the incident but they could not contain the mob.
The lounge also said the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) arrived to tackle the situation but could not make any headway due to the crowd.
“At the time of their arrival, nobody had died. The victim of the altercation with the band boy had also regained consciousness. In further attempt to prevent any untoward occurrence, we called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Maroko Police Station,” the lounge said.
“But before his team could get to our facility, the mob had already burnt David and was on the verge of doing the same to his colleague, Philip Balogun, when policemen from Maroko arrived and dispersed the crowd by firing in the air.
“We condemn the clear disrespect for the life of others and wish to state again our support for the government to bring the perpetrators to book.”
Premium Times
