The family of an artiste, Ifeanyi Kalu, became bereaved after officials of the Nigerian Air Force, accused of driving on the Bus Rapid Transit lane in Lagos State, crushed him.
According to PUNCH Metro, the deceased was on his way to work in the Ilupeju area of the state when the incident happened.
His remains were said to have been deposited in a mortuary at the Nigerian Air Force base in Lagos.
An actor, Segun Adefila who announced Ifeanyi death claimed that the deceased was hit between the Obanikoro and Anthony ends of the Ikorodu Road.
While insisting that the Air Force was responsible for the accident, he said some companies in the vicinity could confirm his claim with their CCTV footage.
“According to them, he (Ifeanyi) had got to the BRT lane when they (NAF vehicle) hit him. He fell on the expressway and a commercial bus just finished the job they started. What kept everybody quiet was that they acted immediately by picking him up,” he added.
Adefila said the military later offered the family a compensation of N200,000.
“But why would they agree to take him to their place or even agree to pay anything if they did not hit him?” he queried.
A spokesperson for the Nigerian Air Force, Edward Gabkwat, denied Adefila’s claim that the military vehicle crushed the victim, saying the 31-year-old was knocked down by a commercial bus.
He said, “An Air Force vehicle did not kill or crush the victim. From what I learnt, the victim was trying to cross the road and an Air Force vehicle that was approaching saw him, and the vehicle suddenly stopped.
“The victim, who was apparently in shock at how the vehicle stopped, tried to go back to where he was coming from and I understood that a Danfo vehicle crushed him. As an organisation with responsible personnel, the officers, who were in that vehicle, felt it would be out of place to see such an incident and a victim in that particular state and ignore.”
