[b]A commercial driver in Lagos, Philip Okpuzor, who was manhandled by officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), said his life is in danger.
Okpuzor, now uses crutches to walk, following his brush with some overzealous LASTMA officials, opposite the Lagos State University (LASU) main campus, Ojo, Lagos.

The driver of a 14-seater Fanagon bus with registration number, FP 906 GN, was said to be coming from Agbara axis of the metropolis when he was flagged down at Iyana-Iba Bus Stop by LASTMA officials.

His alleged reluctance to obey the traffic managers was said to have angered them, as they dragged him down from the vehicle and started torturing him.

Crime File gathered that as they were driving away the impounded vehicle to their office, it ran over the victim, who attempted to resist his vehicle being driven by one the LASTMA officials.
He was said to have been dragged along by the moving vehicle, before some sympathizers pulled him out from it.

The victim, who sustained multiple fractures was said to have been helped into a Keke NAPEP and taken to a nearby hospital. He was said to have sustained injuries on the right knee, waist, thigh, hand and head.

His case was further made worse by the fact that he was rejected by the he earlier taken to.
Crime File gathered that the second refused to admit him after the man, brought him to place disappeared under the pretence that he was either searching for a doctor or a nurse.
His wife, Esther, later took him Onyems Hospital, Ojo, where he was admitted after initial deposit of N1,000.

Meanwhile, members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), who got wind of Okpuzor’s travails were said to have stormed LASTMA office to protest the officials’ high-handedness.
It was also gathered that LASTMA could only give the hospital N20,000 but Crime File learnt that the victim had already spent over N50,000 and his condition is not getting any better. Now, his left leg is shorter that the right one.

“I’m planning to go and reset my left leg, so that it will be of the same length with the right one,” he moaned.

The incident is already taking its tolls on the father of six (three males, three females), as he could no longer cater to the needs of members of his family. The situation is not helped by the rising cost of medical treatment.

When Crime File visited the zonal office of LASTMA at the Church bus-stop, Mebamu, near Ijaniki, Lagos, a senior staffer of the he couldn’t recall the incident. “There are many cases like that, so, I can’t remember the one you are talking about,” he said.[/b]