Lagos woman allegedly assaulted by e-hailing driver over dispute about air conditioning

A lady in Lagos simply identified as Aderemi has allegedly been assaulted by an e-hailing driver identified as Samson, following a dispute over air conditioning during a ride. The lady, while narrating the incident, said the assault happened after she ordered a ride from the Ikoyi area of Lagos to Ogudu at about 2 AM on Sunday.

According to her, when the ride began she noticed the driver did not put on his air conditioning. When she asked why, the driver said he did not have enough gas. She decided to end the ride then but after the driver pleaded that he already wasted fuel to get to the pickup point, and after she considered that it was really late and she needed to get home in time, she reluctantly agreed.

But trouble started brewing when they got to her destination and requested his account details. She added that she would not pay in full as the service was not rendered in full.

In response, the driver began to insult her and demanded that she pay the full sum.

She added that the driver then parked the car and stepped out. She followed him out still demanding the account details. But rather than produce it, the driver started making a scene, demanding to know how much she was going to pay before sending his details.

This was when he started pointing a finger at the lady who responded by pushing the finger away. The driver then answered with a slap.

“He said see, you will pay me that money in full and pointing at me. I pushed his hand and told him to stop pointing at me. The next thing this guy just slapped me. He gave me two slaps. I took off my wig and my shoe and slapped him back. He then pushed me, picked up my wig, put it in his car and started reversing,” she said.

At this point, the woman said she ran to the gate and asked the security guards not to let the driver out. When the driver drove to the gate and realized it was locked, he came down from the car and started assaulting the lady again.

“He dragged me, strangled me and started punching me in my face. Everything was looking like a movie to me because I never expected it to escalate to that point. He was punching me and the security guard was an old man. He could not do much so he was trying to stop the fight. He was holding my clothes and I was holding his clothes too because he was ready to wound me. He did not even care, he was just punching me badly in my face like he was fighting with his fellow man,” the lady narrated.

The matter was eventually escalated to the police station.

See also: From N8,100 to N9,000: an inDrive rider and driver clash over AC charges in Lagos

The e-hailing driver responds

Narrating his side of the story, the driver in question, Samson, said he told the lady before he picked her up that he would not be using the air conditioning as the fuel left in his tank could barely complete the trip.

“I contacted her and she asked me, is your AC working? I told her I was currently out of gas. The gas I have will take me to where you are going. She said she already cancelled one trip and I said I wouldn’t be using the AC. Are you good to go? She just grumbled and she said, okay, I should come. When she entered my car she started grumbling. I said sister, that is why I told you, if you are not cool with it you can cancel so that I can go. She said no problem I can start the ride,” he said.

He noted that the ride was smooth was as each minded their business through.

However, on getting to her location she told the driver she would not pay the full fare as the ride was without AC. He reminded her that he told her from the onset that there was no AC and even offered her the choice to cancel.

Then, he pleaded with her to pay so he could go home as he was not conversant with the location.

But, she was adamant. She then took off her wig and entered her house saying she did not have his time.

“I collected the wig and said if you are ready, you will pay me. How would you be acting like this? Before you know she started cursing my mother and calling me all sorts of names. She then went to her security post and asked them not to let me go and immediately rushed on me, I’m not a madman who will just hit a lady. She grabbed me and said this is her area and I cannot do anything that she will call boys for me. She tore my clothes and even grabbed my manhood. I could no longer take the pain so in self-defence I slapped her. That was when she rushed to take metal and hit my neck and face,” the driver narrated.

He said despite the police settling the matter as a case of two-fighting, he has been receiving threats to his life since the incident happened.