Nigerians on social media have slammed an e-hailing driver, Stephen Abuwatseya, for apologising to Alex Ikwechegh, the House of Representatives member representing Aba North/South in Abia State, after an altercation during a package delivery led to an alleged assault.
In a video statement on Thursday, Abuwatseya claimed he had provoked Ikwechegh, which ultimately led to the assault.
He expressed regret and asked the lawmaker and Nigerians for forgiveness.
However, this apology did not sit well with netizens, who speculated that the apology was motivated by either threats or money.
A Facebook user, #Okoye Onyedika, suggested that the Bolt driver might have been pressured or paid to issue a public apology to his alleged assaulter.
#Okoye Onyedika wrote, “Is it not Nigeria again? Either they have threatened him, or money has exchanged hands.”
Echoing Onyedika’s sentiment, another user, #Joseph K Nana, stated,
“This must have been after a series of threats from the lawmaker’s boys. Justice is dead in Nigeria.”
Another user, #Ngozi Okafor Okoye, commented, “He doesn’t want to disappear, so he accepted a settlement. Poverty shege.”
On X, a user CC Derek, tweeting as #derekchichi, argued that the driver
should have been transparent if he had reached a settlement with the lawmaker instead of apologising.
#derekchichi wrote, “If this guy was paid off (I believe he was), why not simply tell people you’ve settled with the lawmaker and are moving on with your life? Don’t come out to preach; you’re nobody’s Rabbi. We only supported you because we don’t condone injustice (regardless of the victim).”
Another user on X.com, Mbuyazi, tweeting as #E_Mbuyazi, stated, “Dem don use millions settle his conscience. Poor man’s dignity is for sale. Shame.”
User Obianuju, tweeting as #ObianujuMenkiti, added, “For this to be true, two things are involved: 1. Threat to life; 2. Bank alert. These are the only two things that can make a man apologise to someone who disrespected his hustle, assaulted him, threatened him with ‘magical disappearance’ and more.”