₦airaland Forum

Story and Pictures by YUSUF AISHA ADEPEJU

On the 5th of February 2020; there was an incident that occurred at the front gate of Nigerian institute of journalism Ogba.

It was truly a terrible pay day for a bad habit for a middle aged man recently, right in front of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) Ogba.

He probably had thought he could get away with just this one but nemesis had a shocker in store for him.

According to street side sellers, it was his usual practice to come dump refuse by the road, inconsiderate of the environmental and health implications, and always snubbing the warnings of the street side traders there.

In fact, those familiar with the area, would attest to the fact that workers usually have a hectic time instilling sanity in the manner that refuse is disposed.

Sometimes, it becomes an eyesore approaching the NIJ either from the police station side or the side of the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

So that very day the man, who gave his name as Ibrahim Yinua came as usual to drop refuse but unfortunately for him, was caught by the men of the Lagos State task-force on the environment.

Like someone whose cup was full, he was not just caught, but was beaten by the angry workers.

The task force officials said their anger flowed from the repeated warnings by the government and complaints concerning that particular road.

They would come clear the road, only to return the next day to find it littered, and the impression usually was that they never attended to it.

The Eagle correspondent who was at the scene of the commotion caused by Ibrahim Yinua observed that the culprit was reluctant to take the officials to the source of the refuse he was coming to dump by the conspicuous spot.

Yinua being quizzed

Eventually, he did, and behold, the shop owner, a woman owned up.

She narrated her part thus: " I give him food and he disposes my refuse for me".

There and then, the officials decided to take Yinua to Kirikiri and upon hearing this, he took to his heels but was rearrested, and another round of beating followed, this time mercilessly.

A young lady in the crowd told bystanders that there was something unusual about Yinua.

According to her,when the man first appeared in the neigbourhood, he looked okay, was in fact rich, but that he began to slide financially in less than six months.

She wondered what could have caused it.

“He changed drastically and started roaming around. Ibrahim Yinua transformed from someone who feeds hungry people to someone who started carrying refuse around”.

There were unconfirmed insinuations by other that the man took to smoking weed and other substances and that these affected him.