By Damilola Kushimo
Two persons have been confirmed dead while several others sustained different degrees of injuries in a lone car accident involving an unregistered Land Rover SUV of which brake failed, veered off the road and rammed into a building at Panada, Isolo area of Lagos State.
According to eye witnesses, who spoke to ECHONEWS, the vehicles had hit several people along the road sides due to brake failure on Thursday night and killed two people in the process including an eight years old girl identified as Eniola.
Confirming the incident, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Aswani Divisional Police Station, CSP Oyin Francess, said investigation would be conducted to know the real owner of the vehicle since it is unregistered.
She said the vehicle has been evacuated to the police station while the injured persons including the driver have been taken to the hospital for treatment.
One of eye witnesses who simply gave her name as Iya Fathia narrated: “I sell goods on that culvert. As the vehicle was approaching with reckless speed, I shouted at him to condemn his manner of driving in fact, he bashed the police patrol van stationed over there and what we saw next was that he was hitting people on the road side before ramming into that building. It was then we moved closer to the place and realised that several people had been injured. On the spot, we saw a small girl lying lifeless on the floor as well as a man who was identified as Jelili on the floor.
“Several people were injured. The girl’s sister was terribly hit and sustained serious injuries. There were another four victims from a family. The accident was so serious that we don’t know the number of people that were injured because the casualties were too much. A woman was selling Dokunu over there, her leg was broken with her small girl also injured. The community has since been thrown into great grief.”
It was learnt that the eight-year-old girl was the only child of her father – who was identified as ‘Akure’ and had followed her maternal stepsister out to get what she was going to eat when the unfortunate accident happened.
Her mother was said to have been in great mental trauma same as her father whose apartment has since been flooded with sympathiser.
Her father who was seem crying uncontrollably was heard saying, “if I am at home she wouldn’t have gone out. She knew everything about me. Whenever I and her mother got into misunderstanding, she knew how to calm me down. She knew what I want and what I detest. Where is my Eniola!”
A family friend, Pastor Mrs. Ezekiel Ojomo, explained that the little girl had followed her sister out to get what to eat without the consent of their mother, confirming that the mother would not have allowed her to follow her sister as it was late in the night.
Ojomo also identified one of the victims of the accident a neighbour in Ilasa area of Isolo LCDA.
Mr. Kehinde Olusegun, who claimed to have escaped the accident by thin air, explained that the casualties would have been more if the Osolo of Isolo, Oba Kabiru Agbabiaka, had not given an order prohibiting ceremonious celebration of Isese Day as he claimed that the area is a usual spot for celebration.
