THIRD MAINLAND BRIDGE: Divers collected 400k to recover dead daughter from lagoon—Bereaved family 

CITIZENS COMPASS—The family of a 27-year-old lady, Aisha Maikudi Ibrahim, has said that they paid a whopping sum of N400,000 to divers before retrieving her body from Lagos lagoon.

Citizens Compass reported that Ibrahim was traveling along the Third Mainland Bridge with a male occupant when her car plunged into the Lagoon.

The incident occurred on Saturday, August 24, 2025, after a 27-year-old woman, Aisha Maikudi Ibrahim, lost her life when her car somersaulted and plunged into the Lagos and the rest was history.

A Facebook user, Rachel Ashionye Ebinum, yesterday, shared the plights of the bereaved family on her page.

“According to family sources, Ms Ibrahim, a resident of Gbagada, had attended an event in Ikoyi where she worked as a vendor. She was on her way home when the tragic incident occurred.

“Relatives recounted that the young woman had spoken to her mother around 1 a.m., assuring her she would be home within 20 minutes. But by 2 a.m., her phone became unreachable. By dawn, her worried mother and elder sister began searching for her.

“On our way to the Island, we noticed a crowd and emergency workers gathered near the bridge. When we stopped, we were told an accident had happened. The car’s bumper was still visible, and when the plate number was checked, it matched hers,” narrated her aunt, Hadiza Oyewumi.

“The family suspects that the vehicle may have somersaulted at high speed, though the exact details of the crash remain uncertain.

“What compounded the family’s grief, however, was the slow response of rescue officials.

“Officials from LASTMA and the marine police kept making calls but never went into the lagoon. It was her father who eventually negotiated with local divers. They demanded ₦400,000 before diving in. Only after the payment did they retrieve her body,” Ms Oyewumi said.

“Her remains were recovered between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.—almost 12 hours after the accident—and immediately laid to rest in line with Islamic rites.

“In a statement on Sunday, Ms Oyewumi described her niece as “a promising entrepreneur with big dreams,” lamenting that her life ended not only because of the accident but also because of what she called the “commercialisation of human lives” during the failed rescue effort.

“The crash itself was tragic, but what was more painful was the response that followed,” she concluded.”