There is pandemonium ongoing along College Road in Ifako/Ogba area of Lagos as a truck rammed into a shop, killing the shop owner called Iya Ibeji ( Yoruba word for mother of twin children) while the truck driver escaped.

The mother of four (Three boys, one girl) was said to have gone across the road to buy some items to replenish her shop, a provision store.

On returning to the shop which she was operating inside a container, the truck veered off the road, climbed the pavement and rammed into the shop killing her instantly while the man operating a car shop besides her was hit by the truck but was rushed immediately .to the hospital with severe injuries.

An eye witness account has it that the dead woman usually goes to pick her children after school from a nearby primary school.

“She went to pick the children this afternoon but was told by the school authorities that the children were taking examination, so she returned to her shop only to meet her death,” said an eye witness.

Coincidentally, the late woman’s husband who works in Victoria Island was at home today. He was immediately contacted on phone and informed of the incident.

News Express saw the late woman’s husband weeping at the scene of the incident while onlookers made strenuous efforts to console him.

A traffic police officer who spoke on anonymity said the truck driver must have lost control. Asked if the accident was possibly as a result of brake failure, the officer, an Inspector said, “I don’t think it was brake failure. I think the driver lost control. You can see that this College Road is always free by this time of the day (About 4pm), so the driver must have over sped and lost control.”

Another eye witness told News Express Correspondent that the seriously injured car dealer had gone to another nearby shop along the road to buy “something”. “When he came here (the shop), he was making a business call with his phone. I overheard him negotiating with a customer who planned to come and pick up a car tomorrow after he had made a deposit of N500, 000. He returned to his car shop and immediately the truck rammed, hit him and killed the woman. If I had known such a fate was awaiting him, I would have delayed him a little. He is my good customer,’ said the Igbo lady owner of the store.

As at the time of filing this report, the flat faced truck with registration number BDG 15 XX was still at the scene and the mutilated body of the woman was wrapped up and placed besides it.

Photo caption: The scene of the accident. The man in blue T-shirt with white inscription at the back is the husband of the dead woman. Photo by Foster Obi

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