Another Uber customer jumps into Lagos lagoon, rescued

Barely 12 days after a 21-year-old man, Toju Davies Daibo, allegedly plunged into the Lagos lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge, another passenger, Princewell David

Princewell David, 28-year-old resident of Tajudeen Balogun Street, Igando, Lagos, who patronised Uber ride hailing cab from his residence to the Lekki area of the state, jumped into the lagoon on Thursday after his girlfriend reportedly dumped him.

On getting to the Third Mainland Bridge around 12am on Thursday, David asked the driver to stop to allow him to urinate.

The driver, who had learnt about the same tactics allegedly used by Toju 12 days earlier, drove to where some policemen of the Rapid Response Squad were stationed on the bridge to alert them, but before he could inform the policemen, David had come out of the Volkswagen Jetta car and jumped into the lagoon.

It was gathered that David, who landed on some floating logs of wood underneath the bridge, was later rescued by the RRS personnel, the Marine Police Unit and some local divers.

The driver of the cab was quoted to have said on the RRS Facebook page that David asked him to drive through the Third Mainland Bridge.

He said, “I conveyed him from Igando and he insisted that I should pass through the Third Mainland Bridge and on getting to the bridge, he asked me whether that was the Third Mainland Bridge and I answered in the affirmative.

“He told me that he was pressed and that I should wait for him to urinate. I was curious. At that point, he was already forcing me to stop the car.

“I pretentiously drove him to the point where the Rapid Response Squad personnel were standing inward Lagos and I told him that I was no longer interested in the trip before I approached the police officers, leaving him inside the car.”

The RRS Commander, Olatunji Disu, said that an Access Bank Automated Teller Machine card and the sum of N700 were recovered from David’s pocket, adding that the man was handed over to personnel at the Adekunle Police Station.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said David sustained some injuries and was rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

He stated, “We have a report of a man, who jumped into the lagoon. He ordered an Uber vehicle and on getting to the Third Mainland Bridge, he told the driver that he wanted to urinate, but the driver, who remembered what happened recently, did not stop for him.

“He kept on mounting pressure on the driver, but the driver managed to drive to where our men were stationed to explain to them, but before he could do that, the passenger had jumped into the lagoon, but he was rescued by our marine police and local divers.

“David said he jumped into the lagoon because his girlfriend said she was no longer interested in the relationship.”

Recall that, Toju, a resident of Sosanya Street, Soluyi, in the Gbagada area of Lagos, allegedly jumped into the lagoon after alighting from an Uber cab on February 15, 2020.

On getting to the Third Mainland Bridge around 11am, he was alleged to have pretended that he had stomach upset and begged the driver to stop so that he could relieve himself.

In a jiffy, he reportedly climbed the pavement of the bridge and jumped into the water.

The state emergency management workers, the marine police and local divers have yet to find the man, while the cab driver, Idowu Badmos, was taken to the Adekunle Police Station along with his car.