A gruesome attack on a 33-year-old bus trader, Dennis Nwaize, has landed two of his colleagues, Felicia Emmanuel and Victor John, in the custody of the Department of Criminal Investigation, Lagos after a fight over whose turn it was to hawk inside a particular vehicle.
Saturday PUNCH learnt Nwaize was stabbed with a knife that tore his belly, spilling out his intestines.
Police investigators at the DCI, told our correspondent that on July 5, 2015, 27-year-old John, who works for Emmanuel as a salesman, went to Ibadan to join a luxury bus coming to Lagos as they usually do, in order to advertise and sell her herbal products to passengers while in transit.
According to the traders, they have a schedule with the bus operators on which of them should join specific buses daily.
But on that particular day, John was reportedly ejected from the bus at Ibadan, as the driver said he was not the trader on the schedule.
He was said to have got to Lagos and reported to 31-year-old Emmanuel that he was thrown off the bus and that another trader, Margaret Okpala, was said to have taken his spot.
“Emmanuel and Okpala had previously had quarrels about the issue of bus scheduling. So, as soon as John reported Okpala, Emmanuel went to challenge her,” a source familiar with the case told our correspondent.
The traders deal in herbal medicine and take their stock from their head office at 2, Ikorodu Road, Lagos, where they also remit money after making sales.
Emmanuel, who lives in an apartment in the same building housing their office, reportedly monitored when Okpala arrived at 10am that day and decided to go and challenge her in company with John and another trader.
The police source said, “When they got to the office, they met Nwaize, who is their overall boss. He was preparing for church. In his presence, they challenged Okpala, but she said she knew nothing about what they were talking about.
“Okpala asked John if he indeed saw her in the bus to know that she was the one who took his spot. While this argument was ongoing, Emmanuel, who had brought some bottles to the scene as a weapon, broke one of the bottles and threatened to stab Okpala.
“People at the scene instantly rushed on him and prevented him from using the bottle. Unknown to the others too, John had a plan of his own. He had brought a knife to the scene. While attention was on Emmanuel, he stood up from his seat and attacked Okpala trying to fight her with the knife.”
When Nwaize noticed the weapon, he reportedly tried to intervene and disarm John but in the process, he was stabbed three times, and his intestines spilled out.
Police investigators said that he was rushed to three hospitals, which rejected him as a result of the severity of the injury. He was later accepted and admitted at the Military Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. Nwaize survived the attack and is currently under intensive care at the hospital.
The police have said Emmanuel and John are both in custody and would be charged to court for attempted murder as soon as investigation is complete.
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