"Danfo driver killed LASTMA official and not the accused Banker" - Eyewitness

It was alleged that one Yinka Johnson, a female banker with Standard IBTC bank, on Friday August 10 crushed a Lagos State traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) official, 33-year-old Hammed Balogun, to death along the Lekki-Ajah Expressway, Lagos State.

But now, there are indications that the LASTMA official, Hammed Balogun might actually have been hit by a reckless Danfo bus and not the banker as originally portrayed.

The banker, according to the traffic authority, was said to have been driving against traffic along Lekki-Ajah expressway when she was accosted by the now-deceased 33-year-old LASTMA official.


According to the General Manager of the traffic management authority, Mr. Babatunde Edu, "The banker, whose identity was revealed by the auto inspector device as Yinka Johnson, an employee of IBTC, drove in a green LandRover Jeep with registration number CY 276 LSD against traffic from Mega Chicken inward toll plaza two".

"She was intercepted by three officials of LASTMA led by the head of Operations, Mr. Quayum Asafa, for traffic violation. Johnson started driving recklessly in order to escape and in the process ran over the officer".

Eye-witnesses at the scene of the incident however say that the official was hit by a Danfo driver and not the banker whose car was stationary when the incident happened.
 
Doyin Akinlade, a Lagos TV producer, who claimed to be privy to the circumstances leading to her arrest says: “the LASTMA authorities, for some unexplained reasons are trying to pin the alleged crime on Yinka Johnson whose car was not even moving at the time Hammed Balogun was hit. She did not even see the man being hit.”

He agreed that the banker violated the law by driving against traffic but he insisted that it was not true that she hit the official. He also noted that there was no sign of impact on her car but the said Danfo had its windscreen broken.

Yinka Johnson is a mother of three, including a two month old baby who is reported to be held with her in detention.