The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has refuted claims that its officials crushed an artist,to death in Lagos State.
ALL FACTS NEWSPAPER had reported that one Ifeanyi Kalu was allegedly killed by some officials of the NAF, when they were travelling on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lane on Ikorodu road.
According to a spokesman of the NAF, Edward Gabkwat, the deceased was knocked down by a commercial bus.
Explaining the incident, Gabkwat said;
“An Air Force vehicle did not kill or crush the victim. From what I learnt, the victim was trying to cross the road and an Air Force vehicle that was approaching saw him, and the vehicle suddenly stopped.
“The victim, who was apparently in shock at how the vehicle stopped, tried to go back to where he was coming from and I understood that a Danfo vehicle crushed him. As an organisation with responsible personnel, the officers, who were in that vehicle, felt it would be out of place to see such an incident and a victim in that particular state and ignore.
“So, they decided on their own that they needed to assist and convey him to an Air Force hospital and that was how the victim ended up in our own hospital. Unfortunately, it was in that process that he gave up.
“When the victim passed on, the family asked the Air Force for assistance to bury him and I understood that they (family) came up with a sum of N500,000. The Air Force leadership in the base volunteered to contribute more than half of what they asked.”
On the family requesting for assistance as claimed by Gabkwat, brother to the deceased Ikechukwu, denied that.
“They were the ones that first hit him and the impact of hitting my brother pushed him on the expressway where the bus killed him. Even the person speaking to us on behalf of the Air Force said their vehicle brushed him on the BRT lane.
“They first rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was rejected before they took him to the military hospital where he died on that same day. We are not seeking assistance; I have the message they sent us asking for a meeting and to know what we want them to do for us” Ikechukwu told PUNCH.
Meanwhile, Segun Adefilaan actor who called out the NAF on Facebook, speaking to PUNCH, insisted it was the NAF officials who hit Kanu between the Obanikoro and Anthony ends of the Ikorodu Road.
He also noted that some companies in the vicinity of the accident, could confirm his claim with their CCTV footage.
“According to them, he (Ifeanyi) had got to the BRT lane when they (NAF vehicle) hit him. He fell on the expressway and a commercial bus just finished the job they started. What kept everybody quiet was that they acted immediately by picking him up,” he added.
Adefila said the military later offered the family a compensation of N200,000.
“But why would they agree to take him to their place or even agree to pay anything if they did not hit him?” he queried.
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