The Ondo State Police Command has firmly denied claims circulating online that a vehicle in the convoy of Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, was responsible for the death of a young girl in Akure.
According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria, the First Lady was in Ondo to inaugurate the Renewed Hope Initiative Health Programme and hand out 10,000 medical kits, including Crocs and scrubs, to midwives across the South-West.
Reacting to articles published by some media outlets, the police described the allegations as completely unfounded.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Olufunmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, issued a statement clarifying the situation.
“The attention of the Ondo State Police Command has been drawn to a false and misleading report published by Sahara Reporters on April 17,” the statement began.
“It alleged that the convoy of the first lady, Sen. Oluremi, was responsible for the tragic death of a young girl in Akure.”
The police confirmed through eyewitness reports and initial investigations that a white Lexus SUV without a number plate was behind the hit-and-run incident, not any vehicle linked to the First Lady.
“A witness who saw the hit-and-run incident chased the fleeing vehicle on a motorcycle right after the crash in the Oba-Ile area of Akure,” Odunlami-Omisanya noted. Multiple people at the scene, along with the victim’s parents, validated this account.
She also corrected the age of the deceased. “Furthermore, Sahara Reporters inaccurately claimed the deceased girl was nine years old.
According to her parents, the child was actually seven years old, highlighting the publication’s disregard for factual accuracy, even in a matter as sensitive as this,” the police added.
The Ondo State Commissioner of Police has since visited the bereaved family and pledged a thorough investigation.
“At no point was the first lady’s convoy involved in this tragedy,” the spokesperson reiterated.