A Republic of Ireland-based Nigerian breaker and hip-hop dancer, well-known among locals for his community advocacy through music and dance, Tobi Omoteso, is battling serious vision problems after a brutal attack in a road-rage episode. 

In an interview with Live95 News, Mr Omoteso narrated that the incident occurred on Saturday while he was on his way to the Top 8 Street Dance & Hip-hop Fest in Limerick, when a man started tailing his car after a brief argument with the suspect over blocking traffic.

He admitted to returning an offensive middle ‘finger gesture’ the driver directed at him and other road users but only him was singled out and targeted by the suspect, who smashed his car windows with a bat, sending glass smithereens all over his body, including eyes. 

“Like a couple of minutes after I left my estate, he just came in, swerved in like a swat, you know? Got out of this car. There was another guy as well with him who also wanted to attempt to get out of the car.

“This guy already had a bat in his hand, like he knew what he was going to do,” Mr Omoteso narrated. 

Mr Omoteso, who noted that he was unaware he was being followed before the attack, said the shattered glasses cut his hands, face and sliced one of his iris into half, which eventually needed to be ‘meticulously’ stitched back together.

“All the glass and everything caught my hands, caught my face, and obviously entered my eye and permanently damaged my eye,” the victim said.

Speaking further, the victim disclosed he has been to St. John’s Hospital and University Hospital Limerick since the attack, adding that he would need at least three eye surgeries to partially regain his sight, prompting him to set up a GoFundMe account.

Mr Omoteso’s story has garnered significant public sympathy and received over €62,000 in GoFundMe donations as of press time. He stressed that he was now battling permanent vision impairment that would affect his work in the long run. 

“I’m battling about three to four operations to at least try to save the eye and get the eye some sort of working, but it is permanently damaged now,” the dancer added. 

Meanwhile, the national police and security service of Ireland, Gardaí, confirmed that the agency was aware of the incident, stating that an investigation had commenced. 

“A car has been reported as damaged. A male in his 30s suffered serious injuries during the incident,” a spokesperson for Gardaí told the Irish Examiner.