Kwara: Truck Driver kills student in accident, flees

The Kwara State Police Command is searching for a Conoil truck driver and his motor boy over the death of a Kwara State Polytechnic student.

His body was allegedly dumped on a bridge after a road crash and buried as an unidentified corpse.

The Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi confirmed the incident to Daily Trust during a telephone chat on Tuesday.

He said a tricycle operator who allegedly handed the body to the truck driver had been arrested.

It was gathered that the deceased, identified as Sheu, was reportedly hit by the truck around the Government Secondary School area of Ilorin, on Friday.

A family member, who spoke to Daily Trust anonymously, said the deceased had borrowed a motorcycle from one of his brothers to buy clothes for his side business when the incident occurred.

Sheu, who hailed from Eyombo Anabi compound in Ilorin, lived with his mother in Shao, Moro local government area, and helped with her clothes business.

His family, however, became worried when he failed to return the motorcycle on the fateful day.

A relative of the deceased who confided in our correspondent said the owner of the motorcycle later called his phone after 9pm, but an unidentified person answered.

He added that they heard a voice in the background questioning why he had picked up the call before the line went off.

Repeated attempts to reach him later failed.

The development prompted the family to search for him.

The family later learnt that a body had been found on a bridge in the Oko-Olowo area of Ilorin.

Residents had alerted the police after they suspected that the deceased had fallen from a moving vehicle.

The body was classified as unidentified and buried by local government health officials.

The family said it identified him from a photograph taken before the burial before they exhumed the body for confirmation.

A family member told Daily Trust that a tricycle operator, Basit, who witnessed the accident helped to convey the body to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), where doctors confirmed that the deceased was brought in dead.

He said that the tricycle operator later claimed to be the deceased’s brother, took custody of the body and handed it to the truck crew after leaving the UITH.

The family questioned why the operator did not alert hospital personnel that he had merely assisted in conveying the body.

“We want justice and to establish whether the operator handed over the body out of ignorance or for financial gain. The Commissioner of Police has directed that they produce the drivers of the Conoil truck,” the family member said.

The relative added that the family found the motorcycle at the Kulende Police Station during its search.

Confirming the incident, Commissioner of Police, Ojo Adekimi said efforts were underway to arrest the truck driver and motor boy, who were employees of Conoil.

“Yes, we are trying to arrest the drivers now,” he said.

The commissioner said the body was initially classified as unidentified before the police sent its photograph to the family, which identified the deceased.

“We later discovered an abandoned corpse on top of a bridge and sent the picture to the family of the deceased for identification.

“But before then, it was classified as an unknown corpse and had to be buried. The body was later exhumed, and they confirmed it was him,” he said.

“He confirmed that the tricycle operator handed the body to the truck driver but said he claimed not to know where it was taken afterwards”, the commissioner said