A Bureau De Change operator, Modibo Usman, has been confirmed dead after suffering a cardiac arrest when his car was seized by two officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) in the Surulere area of Lagos State.

It was gathered that Usman, who was hypertensive, was being driven by his son, Mustapha, to the Foremost Radiology Consultant Hospital on Ogunlana Drive, Surulere, to obtain a test result for his daughter, Ummu, when they encountered the officers.

Mustapha disclosed that his father also had an appointment with his doctor at the Living Heart Hospital in the Lekki area of Lagos State the same day the incident occurred.

He revealed that the incident leading to his father’s death started when the two LASTMA officers stopped him for allegedly disobeying traffic light.

According to PUNCH, he added that his father pleaded that he was on his way for a medical emergency but the officers ignored him, noting that they demanded a N50,000 bribe to release the vehicle.

Mustapha said: “My father and I kept pleading with them but the officers refused. My father was even crying and telling them that he had a medical emergency but they said that is what people usually say.

“The two officers ordered us to go to the back seat and they sat at the front and started driving us to the Foremost Radiology Consultant Hospital. My father continued crying that he was in an emergency; they then demanded N50,000 to release us.

“But when we got to the hospital, we quickly rushed to get the test result to show them so we could continue our journey to see his doctor at Lekki but the officers and the vehicle were nowhere to be found when we returned.

“Instantly, my dad suffered a shock and collapsed. I quickly alerted the nurses where we picked my sister’s result and they rushed to attend to him and confirmed him dead.

“When I rushed to the LASTMA office to inform the officers that what they did had caused my father’s death, they started saying I could take the vehicle but I left it there and called our relative, Mrs Yosi Yaduma, to inform her about what happened,” he disclosed.

Speaking on the incident, Yaduma said she reported the case at the Area C Command in Surulere, adding that the two LASTMA officers were arrested.

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She further stated that the case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.

Yaduma noted that Modibo was the breadwinner of his family, saying the deceased was survived by two wives and 11 children.

The incident was further confirmed by the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, noting that an investigation was ongoing.

In his reaction, the LASTMA spokesperson, Olumide Filade, however, said the victim was not in an emergency at the time of the traffic light violation.

He added that the agency was not aware of any case of bribery

Filade said: “It was not an emergency. The driver of the vehicle who happened to be Madibo’s son violated the traffic light and the vehicle was impounded.

“We are in possession of a video of the violation and where Baba (Madibo) agreed that the officers should drop them at the Foremost Diagnostics.

“After dropping Baba and his son, the officers told him to instruct his son to follow them so he could know where the vehicle was, but Baba said his son did not know anywhere in Lagos.

“He said they would come later. But while they were at the Foremost Diagnostics, maybe Baba had a crisis and he passed on. Thereafter, the case was reported at Area C, from where it was transferred to the SCID, Yaba,” the LASTMA spokesman stated.

The Star