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.”