But for the vigilance of some hawkers at Ijora, Lagos, who witnessed the accident, one Emeka Nwoji would have still been searching for his 18-year-old brother he sent on an errand.
It all happened on August 21, when 42-year-old Abdulateef Babatunde, the driver of a Volkswagen bus marked JJJ23XB and knocked down, Jeremiah Samuel, who later died in the hospital.
After waiting for several days without seeing Jeremiah whom he had just brought from Ebonyi State, Nwoji went in search of him.
Some hawkers at Ijora-Badia told Nwoji that a young man was hit around 7UP, adding that the driver was forced to take the victim to the hospital for treatment.
Nwoji, who shared his experience with The Nation, said he was horrified to discover that the young man he brought to Lagos was dead and buried without his knowledge.
“After those people told me about an accident involving a young man and how they forced the driver to take him to the hospital, I asked them the name of the hospital and they told me. The hospital is at Agbamalu, Ajegunle.
“So, I went to the hospital and was told that my brother was admitted by an auxiliary nurse, one Jonathan Fumilayo, on August 22. and he said my brother could not say exactly where he came from.
“At that point, I was only interested in seeing him because I was under pressure from the village. His parents were already accusing me of using the young man for rituals and I did not know what to do.
“When I insisted on knowing where he was and the person who brought him to the hospital, they told me he was dead,” he said.
Nwoji said he immediately ran to the Ijora-Badia Police Station to report the case and policemen followed him to the hospital.
He said it was with the help of the police that the driver was arrested and he disclosed that the deceased had been buried at the Trinity Cemetery.
“The Police arrested him and he confessed that, with the assistance of his friend, one Hassan Mamudu, and some personnel from the hospital, my brother’s corpse was taken to Trinity Cemetery the same day at about 10am and buried.”
Nwoji, who said he immediately communicated the situation to the deceased’s family at Ebonyi, said by their tradition, the suspect was supposed to perform certain rites which he refused to do.
Having established that the deceased was buried at the cemetery; the police preferred a three-count charge against Babatunde and his friend, Mamudu.
According to the charge sheet, Babatunde on August 21, at about 5pm at Ijora, being the driver in charge of one Volkswagen bus marked JJJ23XB, drove recklessly and caused the death of one Jeremiah Samuel, 18, by hitting him with the said vehicle, an offence punishable under Section 20 of the Lagos State Road Traffic Laws 2012.
The second count stated that Mamudu, on August 22, at about 10am, at Trinity Cemetery, Ajegunle, Apapa, conspired to commit accessory after the fact of manslaughter, contrary to Section 19 and punishable under Section 409 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.
While the third count read: “Mamudu, knowing that Babatunde has unlawfully killed Jeremiah Samuel with his bus, secretly assisted the said Babatunde and unlawfully buried the corpse without the knowledge and consent of his parents and other relevant authorities and thereby committed an offence under Section 20 of the Lagos State Road Traffic Laws 2012.
The suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges and they were admitted to bail by Magistrate Patrick Adekomaya in the sum of N500,000 each with four sureties in like sum.
The Magistrate adjourned the matter to October 24.
