A man, said to be a truck fleet manager, committed suicide by drinking sniper at the premises of Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) on Monday, in full glare of officials.
Fatai Salami, whose truck was seized by the agency a few days ago, was allegedly slammed a fine of N215, 000 for violating the COVID -19 law in the state.
TRACE officials seized the deceased’s truck from a driver in Abeokuta on Thursday for flouting the social distancing order and failure to use face masks.
He was said to have followed his driver to the premises of TRACE to plead for the release of the truck.
It was gathered that frustrated by the non-release of the vehicle, he opted to drink the poison.
Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer of TRACE , confirmed the death of the deceased in the premises of TRACE in Abeokuta.
“The man was neither a truck driver nor a truck owner. One of our commanders and people around saw him sitting on the floor and they asked him to stand up.
” As he stood up, he brought out something from his pocket and drank it.
“We later discovered that it was Snipper he drank . One of his bosses saw him attempting to drink it and screamed, but before help could come ,he had drunk it.
“He was rushed to the General Hospital Ijaiye and at the hospital he gave up. So the case had been reported at Ibara police station here in Abeokuta,” he said.
He also denied the allegation that TRACE fined the deceased N215,000 for flouting the COVID-19 law.
“That is a lie, it is not true. It was later we found out that he was a manager of a fleet of trucks owned by somebody else and one of the trucks was penalised for violating traffic rules.
” We also gathered that the owner of the truck had warned him to ensure he returns with the truck or risk sack.
” Who knows, may be that’s why he killed himself. It is so sad and unfortunate.
“He was neither a driver nor a truck owner, what he cane here to do we don’t know . A whole lot of them usually come into the premises.
“If you commit a traffic infraction , you have to be fined and if you think that what you are being charged is on the high side or you are being charged wrongly, you have the right to seek redress which we also entertain and encourage, ” he said.
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