Nigerian Air Force Vehicle Illegally Using BRT Lane Kills Young Artist In Lagos

The Nigerian Air Force vehicle, violating the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Law in Lagos State, has allegedly killed a 31-year-old professional dancer, Ifeanyin Kalu.

According to popular stage actor, Segun Adefila, the deceased was knocked down by the military vehicle illegally using a BRT lane on Ikorodu Road while he was on his way to work.

Ifeanyin’s lifeless body was said to be in the mortuary of NAF hospital in Lagos, while his mother’s body was in another mortuary in the same state.

Sources said his mother, Mrs Oluchi Kalu, died of cardiac arrest in August 2021.

They added that the Air Force offered the family N200,000 towards Ifeanyin’s burial.

“Ifeanyin was a young Nigerian artist who was diminutive in stature but gigantic in strides. His life was one huge struggle for survival without a thought for crime but through a dint of hard work,” Adefila posted on Facebook.

“He was a prominent member of the Bariga Artists Forum (BAF) and Guild of Nigerian Dance Practitioners (GONDP). He was also a founding member of Dachrismofa Art Troupe and an alumnus of Feetprints Africa and the assistant director of Kings and Queens Art Academy- a children focused theatre group.

“His creative energy lit up every gathering he attended. Born on the 15th of July 1990, Ifeanyi was the second son of his economically disadvantaged family and the fourth child. He was a major breadwinner of the family, a bread not only rarely gotten but also never buttered.

“Their mother and matriarch of the Kalu clan passed on on the 27th of August 2021. On October 20, 2021, Ifeanyin’s life was cut short on the express way of Ikorodu Road. He lived with his aged father and 6 siblings and left them at home on that fateful day for a job he just secured. He was on his way to a school (Temple Schools, Ilupeju) where he was helping to teach the pupils cultural dance and music.

“A Nigerian Air Force vehicle traveling on a BRT lane knocked him down. Ifeanyin’s body is still in the Nigerian Air Force base mortuary. Ifeanyin’s mum is also still in another mortuary. His bereaved family who are definitely inconsolable at the moment also stands the risk of not getting any form of tangible compensation from those whose vehicle knocked him down.”