A Lagos police inspector, Mercy Bassey, has died after a black Highlander SUV reportedly struck her while she was deployed for route-lining duties ahead of President Bola Tinubu’s return to Lagos.
The fatal incident occurred at about 2:30pm on Tuesday at the Adekunle intersection of the Third Mainland Bridge, inward Lagos Island, several hours before the President’s aircraft landed in Lagos.
Bassey, attached to the Ikotun Divisional Police Station, was reportedly crossing the bridge when the SUV hit her. The driver did not stop after the collision and escaped despite an attempt by patrol officers to pursue the vehicle.
A security source revealed that the vehicle’s registration number and the driver’s identity have remained unknown at the time of filing this report.
“Yesterday, at about 2:30pm, while on route lining for the Presidential movement, Inspector Mercy Bassey, attached to Ikotun Divisional Police Station, Lagos, was hit by a black Highlander SUV while crossing the Third Mainland Bridge at Adekunle Intersection, inward Lagos Island, Lagos,” the source said.
“The registration number of the vehicle and the driver are not yet known. The vehicle sped off after hitting the officer. The vehicle was chased by patrolmen on duty but escaped to an unknown destination.”
Bassey was taken to General Hospital, Ebute Metta, where she reportedly died while awaiting treatment. Her remains were subsequently expected to be transferred to a mortuary in Yaba.
The circumstances have now placed the Motor Traffic Division of the Lagos State Police Command at the centre of the investigation. Officers are seeking CCTV footage from the Adekunle area, which could help establish the SUV’s movement, identify its registration number and trace the driver.
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The Lagos Police Command confirmed the incident through its newly appointed spokesperson, Abimbola Adebisi, but declined to provide further details.
“We don’t want to comment on the matter at the moment,” Adebisi said.
The death occurred amid heightened security arrangements surrounding Tinubu’s return to Lagos after his working vacation in the United Kingdom and France. The President’s aircraft touched down at the Presidential Wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, at 6:22pm on Tuesday.
That timing places Bassey’s death within the same day as the presidential movement, but it does not by itself establish any link between the collision and a failure in the security operation.
What investigators must now establish is more precise: who was driving the Highlander, where the vehicle went after the collision, whether CCTV captured its registration details and what exactly happened in the moments before and after the impact.
Those answers could determine whether the case progresses from a fatal road crash investigation to criminal proceedings against an identified suspect.
The case also highlights the risks faced by officers assigned to route-lining duties. Such deployments place personnel along busy roads to facilitate the movement of dignitaries and manage security around designated routes. In Bassey’s case, the assignment ended in a fatal collision.
At the time of filing, no driver had been publicly identified or arrested, and no official finding had established the circumstances beyond the reported collision and subsequent death.
The next significant development may come from the cameras around Adekunle. The footage could provide the first concrete lead in tracing the vehicle that struck a police officer on duty and disappeared into the city’s traffic.
