Bereaved Father Insists First Lady Remi Tinubu’s Convoy Killed His 9-Year-Old Daughter in Akure Tragedy

The father of nine-year-old Saratul Lawal has come forward to challenge claims by the Ondo State Police, insisting that eyewitnesses confirmed his daughter was killed by a vehicle in the convoy of Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, during her recent visit to Akure. Speaking in an emotional interview, the grieving father recounted the painful events that have left his family and the Oba Ile community in deep mourning.

According to him, although he was not physically present at the scene when the incident occurred, multiple witnesses, including local Yoruba residents near the police station, informed him that the young girl was struck by a vehicle in the First Lady’s convoy. “It did not happen in my presence. It was people who saw it that came to call me, saying one of my daughters had been killed on the road. By the time I rushed there, they had already taken her to the hospital,” he said.

The incident reportedly happened near the central mosque in Oba Ile as the convoy was returning from the Akure airport. Earlier reports had stated the victim was seven, but the father clarified that Saratul was nine years old and a pupil at Islamiyar Arabic School in the Shasha area of Akure.

Despite the outcry from residents and witnesses, the father expressed his reluctance to accuse the First Lady’s convoy without personal confirmation, stating, “What I did not see with my own eyes, I can’t say it was them or not. But many people, the Yoruba people, said they saw it — that it was the convoy.”

SK Blog earlier reported that a Hilux vehicle in the convoy allegedly struck Saratul while the First Lady was en route to launch the South-West leg of the “Renewed Hope Initiative,” a programme focused on supporting nurses and midwives. Saratul was rushed to the Oba Ile Primary Healthcare Centre but did not survive. She was later buried according to Islamic rites.

The Ondo State Police Command has denied the involvement of the First Lady’s convoy, stating that their investigations pointed to a hit-and-run driver in an unregistered white Lexus as being responsible for the incident. The police spokesperson emphasized that no vehicle associated with Mrs. Tinubu’s convoy was involved in the fatal accident. However, the father remains firm in his account, citing the testimonies of those who witnessed the tragic event.