By Patrick Idowu
A five-year-old Primary 2 pupil, Gaza Damilo, was tragically crushed to death by a speeding vehicle on Tuesday morning at Aleita, along the Airport Road in Abuja.
The incident occurred at about 7:37 a.m. as the boy was on his way to school.
Eyewitnesses said the driver of a Mazda car, with registration number KWL 943 DE, was speeding from the Pyakasa bypass when he hit the child.
According to a witness, the driver and some residents rushed the severely injured pupil to a nearby clinic in Aleita, where a doctor confirmed him dead on arrival.
Tension quickly escalated as an angry mob poured petrol on the car and set it ablaze. Some youths later stormed the clinic, demanding that the driver be handed over to them for lynching.
The boy’s uncle, Gabriel Jacob, confirmed that Gaza, a pupil of a private school in the area, was crushed on the same day he was supposed to celebrate his fifth birthday.
In an emotional recount, Jacob alleged that the same driver nearly knocked down a pedestrian on Monday while driving recklessly along the same route from Pyakasa.
“It was the same driver that almost hit someone along this road yesterday. I even stopped him and questioned his recklessness, but he arrogantly told me that if I was jealous, I should go and buy my own car,” Jacob said in tears, joining others in demanding jungle justice.
As angry residents gathered at the clinic in groups, trying to force open a door to access the driver, police officers arrived just in time to prevent further violence.
