Woman Dies After Car Summersaults Into Lagos Lagoon
A 27-year-old woman, Aisha Maikudi Ibrahim, has died after her vehicle somersaulted and plunged into the Lagos Lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge.
Family sources said Ibrahim, who lived in Gbagada, was returning from an event in Ikoyi where she worked as a vendor when the accident happened.
“She called her mother at about 1 a.m., assuring her she would be home in 20 minutes,” her aunt, Hadiza Oyewumi, told journalists on Sunday. “By 2 a.m., her line was unreachable. By 4 a.m., her mother grew anxious, and by 6 a.m., she and Aisha’s elder sister set out in search of her.”
According to her, the family later came upon emergency officials and onlookers on the bridge. “We stopped and were told there had been an accident. The car’s bumper was visible, and when they checked the number plate, it was hers,” Oyewumi explained.
The family suspects the car may have somersaulted due to speed, though the exact cause is yet to be confirmed.
Their grief was worsened by the conduct of rescue agencies.
“Officials from LASTMA and the marine police kept making calls but made no attempt to go into the water,” Oyewumi said. “Her father eventually negotiated with local divers, who demanded N400,000 before they agreed to dive. Only after payment was her body recovered.”
Her remains were pulled out of the lagoon between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, nearly 12 hours after the crash, and buried immediately according to Islamic rites.
In a statement on Sunday, Oyewumi described her late niece as “a bright and ambitious entrepreneur” but condemned what she called the “commercialisation of human lives” in the failed rescue effort.
“The tragedy of her death is painful enough, but the greater pain lies in the response that followed. Despite the presence of LASTMA and the marine police, no meaningful rescue was carried out. Local fishermen, instead, demanded money before acting. In our grief, the family paid, not as a bargain, but simply to retrieve her for burial,” the statement read.
She called on the Lagos State Government to strengthen emergency response operations, equip officials with the right tools, and formally incorporate trained divers into the system.
“Structures must be put in place to ensure that human lives are never weighed against money in critical moments. Lagos cannot afford to commercialise life. Preparedness and compassion must define our response to emergencies,” she added.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
