Afeez Hanafi
A 10-year-old boy has lost his life in an accident at the Olopomeji end of the Oworonshoki Expressway, Lagos State, during a football match at a recreation ground near the road.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the boy had accompanied some youths to the recreation ground on Sunday around 8am to play football.
The facility is demarcated from the road with wire fence.
As the match progressed, one of the players reportedly played the ball over the fence onto the expressway and the boy ran out to pick it.
While he wanted to pick the ball, a Volkwagen Golf car with the number plate, AKD 371 AP, en route from Lagos Island, hit him on the spot.
He was said to have been rushed to a hospital in the area where he gave up the ghost.
A few persons our correspondent met at the recreation ground on Monday said they were not aware of the incident.
Shop owners around the area also denied knowledge of the accident, saying they don’t open on Sundays.
However, a commercial driver at a park near the expressway, Muyideen Babatunde, said he saw a crowd at the scene of the accident around 9am that day.
He said, “It is true the accident happened, but I did not go to the spot. People gathered along the expressway and some policemen came to the scene. I don’t know whether the victim died or not.”
A police source told PUNCH Metro that the case was reported at the Oworonshoki Police Station and the driver was arrested.
He identified the driver as one Edwin, adding that the identity of the victim had yet to be ascertained.
“The boy should be about 10-year-old. He came with some people to play football at the recreational ground. They played the ball to the expressway and the boy rushed to pick it. He was not aware of the oncoming Golf car. He was knocked down at the spot and was seriously injured. He later died at a hospital,” the source said.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, confirmed the crash and the arrest of the driver.
He said the victim’s corpse had been deposited at the Infectious Diseases Hospital morgue in Yaba for autopsy.
He said, “The police got a report that a Volks Wagen Golf car, which allegedly knocked down a yet-to-be identified male child of about 10 years old at Olopomeji, inward Alapere.
“The scene of the accident was visited and photographed by traffic personnel and the victim was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. He died at the hospital and his corpse had been deposited at the mortuary for autopsy. Meanwhile, the driver has been arrested and the vehicle recovered to the station for Vehicle Inspection Service scrutiny.”
In a similar incident, a 47-year-old man identified as Usman Aliyu, was allegedly killed by a BRT bus driven by one Omolade Johnson around 6pm last Thursday along the Ikorodu Road.
The man wanted to cross to the other side of the road at Owode Onirin when he was knocked down by the bus. He died on the spot.
It was gathered that the police at the Owode Onirin division responded to the incident while the corpse was taken away by the deceased’s family.
He was said to have been buried according to Islamic rites.
The Chief Security Officer, Primero Transport Services Limited, which is managing the BRT corridor, Mr. Cletus Okodolor, confirmed the crash.
He said the company management had met with the deceased’s family and resolved to settle the matter amicably.
Okodolor said, “In our usual policy, we don’t want to claim that the accident happened on the BRT lane. We have sympathised with the family and assisted in the burial. We told the family to bring some documents, including the death certificate, so that we can introduce them to the insurance manager for compensation. We are still expecting them to bring the documents. That was how we resolved the issue.”
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Source: Punch
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