How A Man I Carried Jumped Into Lagos Lagoon – Uber Driver Narrates

At 11pm, On Wednesday 26 February, 2020, a driver with the popular cab hailing operator, Uber, Joseph Olawale
felt that he needed more cash since he had only one customer to show for his operation since morning.

So when he received a request from a passenger on his app he promptly responded to the request with the resolve that he would close for the day after dropping off the passenger at his destination. He had no idea that the passenger, a good-looking young man, had just been dumped by a lover and was contemplating taking his life.

“I got a request from a passenger through my Uber application; that was between 11pm and midnight at Igando bus stop along LASU-Ojo road. I drove straight to the location of that request. I waited for the passenger to arrive. After about five minutes and the person did not show up, I sent a message on the app to him and after about two minutes, the person came to me.

“Traditionally, when I take a passenger late in the night, I normally tell them to sit beside me in the front for security reasons. So, I told him to sit in front so that we could begin the trip but he refused. From that point, I became uncomfortable.

“The trip was to Lekki, precisely Castle Rock Avenue, Lekki. He told me his reason for deciding to sit at the back was because he was heart-broken and devastated and that he wanted to be alone. I asked him why he was unhappy. He replied that the lady he wanted to marry just told him that night that she was no longer interested in the relationship.

“I asked him the reason she gave for breaking up with him and how long the relationship had lasted. He said the relationship was just about a month old, even though he had known the lady for almost a year. He said he had told the lady that he wanted to marry her. I asked him that if the relationship was just about a month old, why was he so heart-broken about the failed relationship. He said I won’t understand and that he actually loved the girl, that she was the first girl that he had ever loved.

“I asked him whether there was actually anything that he was not doing right, which the lady used to complain about. He told me that the lady asked him to get her an apartment so they could stay together. He said he told the lady that the money he had at that moment would not be enough to rent and also furnish an apartment for her. He said he told her to be patient with him, that with time he would do that for her. He also explained to me that he wanted the lady to have something better than she was requesting from him.

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“I told him in that case, if the lady was truly his, she would listen to him and would understand. I told him to relax and that he should give the lady a chance, maybe the lady was just testing him to know how he would respond to things like this.

“So, we kept talking and intermittently, he would continue to lament, saying: ‘I don’t know, I have tried a lot.’ Along the line, he also told me that he held a birthday party for the girl on February 17 and that he bought her a Michael Korr wristwatch.

“I kept encouraging him that he should not think it was over between him and the lady, that he should just be patient. We passed through Igando, Idimu, Egbeda, Oshodi and headed towards the Third Mainland Bridge.”

The young man was quite in a hurry to get to the Third Mainland Bridge as he kept asking Olawale if they had reached the bridge. His constant enquiries on the location of the ever-busy bridge prompted Olawale that his passenger might be up to something.

“As we climbed the Gbagada overheard bridge, descending towards the Third Mainland Bridge, he asked me whether we were on Third Mainland Bridge. I said yes, we were on the bridge. He said no, it was not, that he could still see houses all around. That was when we were at the beginning of the Third Mainland Bridge. I told him we were at the Oworosonki side of the bridge. He said that he could not see the Lagoon; I told him that he would see the Lagoon as we drove along the bridge.

“Initially when he asked me whether we were on the Third Mainland Bridge, I didn’t suspect anything. But as we drove on the bridge, he told me that he was pressed and that he wanted to urinate. That was when I sensed that he wanted to do something unholy and I just told him politely that I would stop for him at a safe point.

“Few seconds later, he called me again that he was pressed and that he wanted to pee. At that point, I moved to the middle lane of the bridge and increased the speed. I was targeting the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) police post on the bridge. I became suspicious of his motive because few days earlier, I had read online about a similar incident. So, I decided I won’t stop at an unsafe place.

“Luckily for me, I got to the point where those policemen were on the bridge. I parked right in front of the police van. There were three policemen there. The policemen told me to move a little bit forward. I told him to come down and urinate himself. He said he was no longer interested in peeing, asking me why I should stop where I did. I told him it was for safety but he said he was no longer interested in urinating and that we should continue with the trip. I told him in that case, I wanted to urinate and that he should wait for me in the vehicle. The car’s engine was still running. I came down from the car and walked towards the policemen, who were less than 10 meters away from where I parked. I had no intention of urinating but I was uncomfortable with the whole situation and wanted to report to the police, that they should come and assist me, that I didn’t want to continue with the trip because of the man’s attitude.

READ ALSO: Another Suicide: Shocking Mystery Behind Deaths At Lagos Lagoon Of Doom

“I was nearing the policemen when they started shouting ‘no, no, no! don’t do it.’ Turning around, the young man had opened the car’s door and he was about to climb across the protective rail on the bridge to jump into the Lagoon. A police officer and I went towards him to try and hold him back, but he had jumped into the Lagoon before we could prevent him.

“However, from the point he jumped into the water, he couldn’t sink into the water because there were logs of wood on the Lagoon. He was lucky that he fell on the wood. We saw him and knew he didn’t sink inside the water. But I was afraid he might slide through the space in between the logs into the water. I was just screaming and shouting. Immediately I called Uber emergency and the police officers immediately radioed their personnel and I fruitlessly called 112 at the same time. I also sent a message at that moment to Nigerian Info 99.3. I also called our association, Professional e-Hailing Drivers and Partners Association (PHDPA). I called the leader of the association, Comrade Idris.

“I was still worried that the man would not slip from the log and fall inside the water. Along the line, a man came out to help us. He started pointing to everywhere calling the local fishermen around the area. One of them now came to the bridge. He led us with RRS personnel, and others around. When we got under the bridge, the man tried to enter the water.

“He had hand pouch and other water gadgets. Luckily, he sighted a canoe on water and called the occupants. Initially, they said they were not coming but he begged them and I promised paying them. There were two people inside the canoe. The guy helping us joined the two in the canoe. They went there and rescued the passenger. He was groaning in pain as they rescued him. He obviously sustained very serious injuries.”

Sadly, Olawale is cursing his luck as the Police at the Adekunle Police Station have impounded his car which he uses to earn a living, despite all his efforts to save the situation by stopping at the police post on the bridge. Since then, all efforts to retrieve the said vehicle has proved abortive.

Olawale is now wondering if it was a crime to try and save a passenger’s life as he could have allowed him to kill himself and speed off.

However, Bala Elkana, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) praised the Uber driver for the steps he took to stop the suicide attempt. While advising drivers of all kinds to avoid stopping on Third Mainland Bridge.

“No, stopping on Third Mainland Bridge. In the light of these suicides and attempted suicide, Uber and other commercial drivers should avoid stopping for their passengers on the Third Mainland Bridge.”

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