Stephen Abuwatseya, driver of Bolt ride-hailing app, on Monday petitioned the Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to urgently investigate lawmaker Alex Ikwechegh’s threat to make him “disappear.”
Mr Abuwatseya filed the petition through his legal counsel Marvin Omorogbe of Deji Adeyanju & Partners law firm on October 28, hours after a viral video showed Mr Ikwechegh assaulting the Bolt driver and threatening to make him “disappear.” The lawmaker boasted that he knew the police IG and implied that there would be no prosecution, should he commit the act.
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Delivery dispute escalates into full-blown assault
In the petition, the driver explained that he received a request to deliver a food package to a residence in Maitama Sunday night.
Upon arriving at the destination, the Nigerian legislator asked him to bring the food package inside his home but the driver declined in line with Bolt rules and policies, the petition stated.
“Regrettably, upon getting to Hon Ikwechegh’s residence, he requested that our client bring the food into his premises, contrary to the laid down policies regulating bolt drivers in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,” The petition added. “Our client politely refused the request and urged Hon. Ikwechegh to send someone to pick up the food outside the gate, as is customary with delivery services.”
Mr Abuwatseya’s refusal to take the food into the house earned him multiple slaps from Mr Ikwechegh who also tore his outfit for what he perceived as disrespect. The lawmaker insisted that he would not pay delivery fee for the package.
“In response to our client’s refusal to take the food into the premises, Hon. Ikwechegh physically assaulted our client, tore his clothes, threatened to make him “disappear” from Nigeria and repeatedly dared our client to call the Inspector General of Police, while threatening that nothing will happen to him,” Mr Omorogbe detailed in the petition.
Mr Abuwatseya said he was not ready to take chances with his life given the high level of kidnappings and disappearance that the nation often recorded.
He urged Inspector-General Egbetokun to immediately look into the claims and prosecute the lawmaker.
“At a time when several Nigerians are increasingly being subjected to enforced disappearance by state and non-state actors, we particularly find Hon. Ikwechegh’s threat to cause our client’s disappearance as a national issue that deserves immediate investigation,” the petition stated.
The Bolt driver in his petition said he was “detained at the Maitama Police Station and his car seized by the Investigative Police Officer” following the instructions of the lawmaker.
“As a serving member of the Federal House of Representatives, whose primary duties include making laws for the safety of Nigerians, we find Hon Ikwechegh’s actions were totally distasteful and a threat to our client’s safety,” the petition stressed to intensify calls for Mr Ikwechegh’s prosecution.
The petition has sparked debates over holding elected officials to account and raised questions about the influence of high-profile figures within the police force.