The Ogun State Police Command is currently looking for a hit-and-run driver suspected of running over pedestrians on the Benin-Sagamu Expressway, killing a 22-year-old-Elizabeth James, a female, and hospitalising another yet-to-be-identified male victim along the Benin-Sagamu Expressway.
Our correspondent gathered that the incident occurred on Sunday at about 9:40 a.m., just before a filling station in the Sagamu area of the highway.
The Sagamu Police Division was informed by an eyewitness that the unidentified car was coming from the Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun State towards the interchange at a maximum speed.
According to a police document obtained by our correspondent on Monday, the two pedestrians were believed to be waiting for a commercial bus just by the sidewalk of the highway when the unidentified speeding vehicle appeared.
The witness reported that the car had run the two pedestrians over and left them unconscious on the sidewalk before they could try to escape the fast-moving vehicle.
“There occurred a hit-and-run fatal pedestrian accident involving male and female victims. An unidentified vehicle rammed into the pedestrians, leaving them with varying degrees of injuries. Having realized what had happened, the suspected driver was said to have sped off,” the police document showed.
A doctor on duty was said to have verified that James, 22, had passed away, despite reports that attempts had been made to get the two victims to the hospital as soon as possible following the event.
The spokesperson for the state Police Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Monday, adding that an investigation into the incident had commenced.
She said, “James was confirmed dead when they got to the hospital. Her corpse had been removed and deposited at the Fakoya Mortuary in Sagamu. Our men at the division have visited the scene of the accident. An investigation is underway.”
It was reported that a similar incident on April 20, 2024, after a truck said to be fully loaded with goods crushed an unknown man to death along the Lenuwa Village corridor on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
This accident also occurred on Sunday at about the same time in the morning. The vehicle involved was a Mitsubishi truck with the number plate KTU209YF. The vehicle was said to have derailed and hit the pedestrian, who was on the sidewalk.