Tragedy struck in Akure, Ondo State, on Thursday as a vehicle in the convoy of Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, allegedly hit and killed a seven-year-old girl identified as Saratu Lawal.
The First Lady was in Akure to launch the South-West phase of the Renewed Hope Initiative, aimed at improving the welfare of women and girls across Nigeria. The event also included the distribution of over 10,000 professional kits—including Crocs and scrubs—to nurses and midwives in the region.
According to multiple eyewitnesses, the young girl, a pupil at Islamiyar Arabic School in Shasha, was struck by a butter-coloured Hilux in the presidential convoy while it was en route from the airport to the event venue. The incident occurred around the Oba Ile area, near the Oba Ile Central Mosque.
“Every effort to save her life failed, even after she was rushed to the primary healthcare centre in Oba Ile,” a source told SaharaReporters.
The child’s father, Malam Lawali, a trader at the Oba Ile market, expressed deep sorrow but said he had “handed everything to God.”
The girl’s body has been released to the family for burial in accordance with Islamic rites.
Efforts to reach the Ondo State Police Command for comments were unsuccessful, as calls to the command’s spokesperson, DSP Ayanlade Olushola, were neither answered nor returned. A text message sent to his line had not been replied to as of press time.
