Zainab Suleiman, mother of 5 and the wife of Abubakar Sulaiman, one of the victims of the Lagos container accident has spoken of her anguish at losing her husband to the tragic incident. A fully loaded 40ft container fell off the Ojuelegba bridge and landed on his black Toyota Sports Utility Vehicle, killing him and two of the occupants; Umaru Sulaiman, and Kamilu Umar instantly on September 2nd, 2015.  The family members are yet to recover from his shocking death.

Zainab in an interview with PUNCH in their Agege home said she had a strange feeling from afternoon of that day after she called his mobile phone several times without a response from him. 

“I became restless; my thoughts were on him all the time. So, I called one of his friends later that evening to find out if they were together. The friend told me that they were not together and that he had gone out with another of his friends. By the time I called that one too he was not picking so I called one of my brother-in-laws to know if he had heard from my husband. Not satisfied, I started calling the number of his driver, Kamilu. Later a policeman picked the call and asked who I was, I told him and he said I should tell my husband to call the number and speak with them. I told him that my husband was with the driver I wanted to speak with and immediately they cut the call. When I called back they told me to tell an adult male in the family to call the number so they could speak. By the time the news was eventually broken to me, I fainted. I don’t know how I survived those moments,” 

She continued, “He  promised to have us celebrate our 16-year wedding anniversary on October 24,” she cuts in solemnly. “We were both looking forward to that special day. But death has ended that dream. The children cry every night, asking after their father. Words cannot tell the vacuum we feel in our hearts. Life can never be the same without him,” she said amidst tears.  

//
Credit: PUNCH Newspaper