Abattoir Faces Relocation, As Strayed Cow Kills Student In Lagos

If there was one dream Adebowale Naphisat cherished so much, it was that of completing her tertiary education. She believed in it and strived to actualise it. So, she certainly would not have taken kindly to any prophecy that this dream would be cut short or aborted by tragedy.

Unfortunately, that has become the case as her journey to school on Monday July 6, 2015 ended in tragedy. She was crushed to death while on that trip.

Most painful is the fact that she died two weeks to her first semester examinations. Not only that, the expectant mother was said to be carrying a set of twins according to the result of the pelvic scan she did during one of her ante-natal visits to the hospital.

Naphisat was a final year student of Physical and Health Education, Lagos State University LASU, until that fateful Monday.

Before her untimely death, the mother of two lived in the Aga/Harmony area of Ikorodu. But because of the distance, she usually would leave home on a Monday for school to meet up with her academic activities and returned to her family on Friday. She left home for school as usual on July 6 but never made it to her destination.

According to her colleagues, Naphisat’s practice was to leave home around 4am in order to beat the traffic that usually starts building up from 6am on the route to her school. But that particular Monday, the traffic was rather light and so there was really nothing to hinder her from getting to school on time to attend her 8am lecture.

But sadly that was not to be as the 27-year-old Naphisat, a Muslim by faith, was involved in an auto crash which claimed her life at Odo-Eran bus-stop, along the LASU/Isheri road.

Tragedy struck around 7am when a cow escaped from a nearby abattoir and strayed to the major road where it was hit by a fast-moving commercial bus.

It was gathered that on account of the impact, Naphisat, a passenger in the bus, who was sitting near the door fell and landed on the road and was hit by an oncoming vehicle. She died on the spot. She was later identified as a student of LASU and the news of her death spread to the main campus at Ojo, prompting her fellow students to take to the streets in protest.

The protesting students first stormed the abattoir located at the Isheri/Igando end of Governor Road. Their arrival brought all trading activities at the nearby market to a stop. It remained so for the rest of the day. The closure was later extended to seven days.

Naphisat was buried same day according to Muslim rites.

A second year student of Faculty of Education, Christian Elemilua, described the victim as a hard-working fellow who participated actively in sports.

The Public Relations Officer of LASU Students Union, Adebanjo Fatai, told VM that following the sad development, the Union had made representation to government to relocate the abattoir.

Adebanjo said the students were preparing for a press conference when they received news of Naphisat’s death, adding that they all rushed to the scene of the accident.

“It was so painful that the management of the abattoir did not contact the school authorities having discovered her identity. This is the reason why we closed down the place for seven days before it was re-opened today (Monday July 13, 2015),’’ he said.

Also, the President of the Student Union, Adeyemi Wasiu Onikoro, said the union had entered into negotiations with the management of the abattoir to compensate the victim’s family.

“Initially her family did not support the idea, but when we went into action, they changed their mind and the husband has since expressed appreciation for our gesture. We want this to serve as a deterrence to others. An abattoir should not be sited very close to a major road to avoid a situation like this,’’ he said.

Onikoro disclosed that at a closed door meeting held between the victim’s family, the students and management of the abattoir, an agreement was reached that the abattoir should pay at least N3 million to the family for the upkeep of the children of the deceased.

On its own part, the state government is understood to have agreed to relocate the abattoir to a yet to be disclosed location. This was confirmed by the Chairman of the abattoir, Alhaji Alabi Bamidele Kazeem, who told VM that: “The place will remain a market while the abattoir will be relocated.’’

In a telephone conversation with this reporter, Naphisat’s widower, Mr Hassan Elemure, said his late wife who hailed from the Dosunmu area of Lagos, used her maiden name because he was yet to pay a dowry on her.

“We had just planned for our introduction before the tragic incident. I thank the students and government for their efforts so far. I thank God that Naphisat’s case was well handled and this gives me the confidence that our government cares for the less-privileged,’’ he said.

Naphisat’s four-year-old daughter, Arafat Elemure, said her late mother will be greatly missed.

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