Tragedy struck on the Ireshe Road, Ikorodu
area of Lagos State when a 10-year-old
pupil of Anglican Primary School, Ikorodu,
Toheeb Abdullahi, was crushed to death by
a truck.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim's
skull was smashed by the rear tire of the
truck carrying crates of Pepsi soft drinks.
An eyewitness, Suraju Sumonu, said the
police had seized his motorcycle on the
fateful Tuesday afternoon when he saw the
incident.
He said, "The kids were coming back from
school when the rough edge of the Pepsi
truck hooked the boy's shirt.
"There was traffic on the road, so the driver
of the truck did not know what had
happened. He drove forward without
knowing the boy had fallen on the ground
and his head close to the tyre.
"The truck broke the boy's skull. It was
such a gory sight that people had to quickly
cover the dead body with cardboards."
Our correspondent learnt that policemen
attached to the Igbogbo division arrived at
the scene and arrested the driver of the
truck.
The truck was also taken into the station,
which was not far from the scene of the
incident.
When PUNCH Metro visited the residence of
the boy's parents on Gbadamoshi Street in
the Itupate community, he met the victim's
parents with a group of sympathisers.
Toheeb's mother, Taiwo, was observing her
prayers when our correspondent entered the
house.
She later explained that her son, who was in
primary five, died due to the careless
attitude of the school driver.
She said, "That day, he went to centre,
where they usually teach them technical
skills. The place is at Itaelewa.
"The usual thing was that the driver that
the school employed would carry them from
the centre back to the school, from where
they would find their way back to their
parents' home.
"That day, there was no teacher with them
in the bus. The driver then decided to drop
them on the main road and asked them to
trek into the school compound which was a
few kilometres away."
The victim's father, Salami, while fighting
back tears, said he had resolved with his
wife not to seek redress in court.
He lamented that the firm, which owned the
truck, had yet to pay them a condolence
visit.
"My boy was a very intelligent boy, as well
as a devoted muslim. He was my second
child.
"I was at work on the Lagos Island when I
received the news. When I visited the police
station, I was told the truck driver was in
the cell. But let them release him, we have
taken this as our fate," he added.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Toheeb was
formerly attending a private school in the
area, but his parents withdrew him two
months ago and enrolled him in a public
school.
It was learnt that the reason was to ease
his admission into a government secondary
school.
An official of the SevenUp Bottling Company
Plc, bottler of Pepsi, who declined
identification, denied the allegation that the
company did not show any concern.
"The company was fully involved in the
boy's burial. They are Muslims and the boy
had to be buried immediately. We foot the
bill 100 per cent.
"About N100,000 was paid for the burial and
we also paid them a visit yesterday
(Saturday), barely a week after the incident
happened. The truck, as I speak with you, is
still in the custody of the police," he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth
Nwosu, confirmed the incident.
He said, "I can confirm to you that one
Toheeb Abdullahi, aged 10 years, was
crushed to death by a truck. Investigations
are already ongoing into the matter."
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