Man bags 5 years imprisonment for killing father, daughter

An Ikeja High Court on Tuesday sentenced a man, Saliman Yekini, to five years imprisonment for manslaughter.

The prosecution had said that Yekini on July 31, 2004 at Adebowale St., Ojodu, Lagos, drove recklessly and killed a father and his daughter -- Christopher Epeyem and Amaka Epeyem.

He was said to have committed the offence in a bid to evade arrest for driving during a monthly environmental sanitation exercise.

The coroner, Prof. John Obafunwa of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, had testified that the death was as a result of being hit by an over-speeding vehicle.

In a ruling, Justice Joseph Oyewale said that the court found the accused guilty of the two-count charge of reckless driving and manslaughter.

This circumstance is more consistent with negligence and certainly was not outside the control of the defendant.