Woman, 25, Crushed To Death By LAWMA Refuse Truck

A 25-year-old woman, identified simply as Pamela, was on Friday morning crushed to death by a truck belonging to one of the partners of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, TFOB Ventures.

The incident was said to have happened at the Kudirat Abiola Way junction, on the Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja Lagos at around 6:30am.

An eyewitness, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH on the condition of anonymity, said the truck driver was driving against oncoming vehicles when he ran into the deceased, who was driving a Toyota Matrix saloon car. He said the deceased died on the spot, while the driver of the truck had been arrested by the police.

“It took the intervention of policemen and other sympathisers before her body could be squeezed out of the ramshackle vehicle,” the source said.

The truck, which has TFOB/LAWMA boldly written on it, has registration number SMK 514 XM, while the Matrix has registration number JJJ 773 BD.

A family source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the deceased, an employee of a telecoms company, went to drop her sibling at a park where she would join a staff bus and was already coming back when it happened.

“She had dropped her sister and was driving home when the incident happened. We learnt the truck was on a wrong lane, driving towards the lane she was on and ran into her and she died instantly,” the source said.

It was also gathered that the deceased was reluctant to leave the house in the morning.

“Pamela had not even seen her parents that morning because she was to quickly drop her sister at the park and come back home. The last time she saw her parents was the previous night and nobody knew such a thing would happen,” the source said.

A family friend, Dr. Ehi Iden, who took her remains to the morgue, said he had been a friend to the family for many years. He described the incident as unfortunate, saying the perpetrator of the incident must be brought to book, while decrying the recklessness of the driver.

Commenting on the incident, the Managing Director, LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya, described the incident as unfortunate, saying the police were already investigating the incident.

He said, “The accident involved one of our PSP trucks and a lady in a car. It happened at the Kudirat Abiola Way junction very early in the morning. It was unfortunate that the lady died on the spot. I have been to the family of the deceased to commiserate with them.

“We believe the police will do the investigation and justice would be served. The governor and all the relevant officers have been informed and the driver has been arrested.

“We are trying to get the camera footage of the area to ascertain what happened and we are deploying all necessary resources to make sure we get the fact of the case. We are grieved about the incident. It’s very painful but it was strictly an accident.”

The Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu, had yet to revert to our correspondents as of the time this report was filed.