The police in Lagos State has apprehended one Ademola Awe, the driver of a sachet water producing factory, for crushing three siblings and a motorcyclist to death on Saturday.
The victims were identified as Esther Orimisan, 24; Kofoworola Orimisan, 17; two-year-old Emmanuel Orimisan; and the motorcyclist, Femi Shojedo.
It was gathered that Awe was driving a Ford pick-up van with number plate GGE 42 XN around 11pm on on Ekundayo Street in the Epe Local Government Area of the state.
But he was said to be under the influence of alcohol and had hit another vehicle on his way, but while attempting to escape from the scene, he allegedly drove without the vehicle’s headlights in order to avoid being apprehended.
However, tragedy struck when he drove into Ekundayo Street, as Shojedo, who was conveying the siblings to their home on Mosalasi Street, had a head-on collision with Awe’s van at the junction leading into the street.
An eyewitness, Bode Abisoye, explained that, “He (Awe) scratched a car and was trying to escape, because of the cost of repairing it; in the process, he switched off the truck’s headlights and as he made to enter Ekundayo Street, he rammed into the motorcyclist and the three passengers he was carrying in front of the Model Hospital. We were telling him to come down to rescue the victims but he refused.
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“We had to chase him till he drove into a gutter, but we noticed that he was drunk when we approached him. He even refused to alight from the vehicle and if not for the involvement of the police and the neighbourhood security men, he would have escaped.
“Aside from the motorcyclist, the three passengers were siblings, two girls and a two-year-old boy. All the victims were still alive when the accident happened, but they later died at the Epe General Hospital due to the severity of the injuries they sustained.”
Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said: “On Saturday, June 6, 2019, around 11.30pm, one Shakiru Ajayi came to the station and reported that a fatal vehicle and motorcycle accident occurred on Ekundayo Street, Epe. The accident involved a Ford pick-up van with number plate GGE 42 XN, driven by one Ademola Awe, and a Bajaj motorcycle with number plate LSR 99 OG, being operated by one Femi Shojedo.
“The motorcyclist was conveying three passengers of the same family and all of them sustained serious injuries and were rushed to the Epe General Hospital for treatment, where Shojedo and the siblings, Esther Orimisan, 24; Kofoworola Orimisan, 17; and Emmanuel Orimisan, two, died. The corpses were deposited in the hospital’s mortuary for autopsy. We have the driver of the pick-up van in our custody.”