Drunken driver kills mother, daughter

A woman and her daughter said to be returning
from a church vigil have been killed by a drunken
driver at Dopemu, Agege area of Lagos State.
The Foursquare Gospel Church members, who
were identified as Paulina Ali (mother) and Joy Ali
(daughter), were said to be among four people
crushed by the Honda Accord on Saturday
morning.
While Paulina and Joy died on the spot, the two
others were said to be in critical condition in a
Lagos hospital, where they were receiving
treatment.
An eyewitness who pleaded anonymity said the
incident happened around 6am and officials of the
Lagos State Traffic Management Authority and
Lagos State Emergency Management Agency
evacuated the victims.
He said, “The incident happened around 6am.
People were standing at the bus stop, waiting to
catch a bus; Paulina and Joy who were on their
way back from a vigil, were among them.
“The Honda Accord which was coming on top
speed, veered off the road and ran into them
before somersaulting into the gutter under the
bridge. About four of those at the bus stop were
crushed. Of the four crushed, Paulina and Joy did
not survive the incident.”
The corpses were said to have been handed over
to the State Health Environmental Monitoring Unit,
who then took them to the Mainland Hospital,
Yaba.
The eyewitness said evidence gathered at the
scene showed the driver was probably coming
from a night club.
The General Manager of LASEMA, Femi Oke-
Osanyintolu, who confirmed the accident, said “A
Honda Hitech car over-sped, skidded off its lane
and landed into a major drainage at Dopemu
under bridge inwards Iyana Ipaja at about 5.30am.
The vehicle killed two people who were members
of the Four Square Gospel Church. They were
returning from a vigil. Two persons were also
injured.”
He said the vehicle had been recovered from the
drainage by the agency and handed over to the
police. The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi
Braide, when contacted said, “The driver was
coming from a night club in a drunken state. He
sustained serious injuries as a result of the
accident and is currently on admission at the
hospital while his vehicle is in custody.
Investigation is still going on.”
C