Inside Nigeria
How 5 Siblings Perish in Lagos Fire Disaster
By Moses Omorogieva
Police in Lagos State said on Sunday that five children of the same family were burnt to death at Abagbo Village, Takwa-Bay area of the state.
The spokesman for the command, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the incident in a statement, saying that police had begun to investigate the cause of the fire incident.
Tarkwa Bay is one of the small islands located along the Atlantic coast. It is an artificial island created during the construction of the Lagos Harbour.
Elkana said that on Aug. 7, at about 10.30 a.m., the Takwa Bay Police Station received an information about a fire incident at Abagbo Village, Takwa Bay on Aug. 6, which claimed the lives of five children from the same family.
According to him, a team of detectives led by the Divisional Police Officer visited the scene.
“The mother of the victims, Mrs Florence Asoye , stated that she left home at about 6.30 p.m. to Takwa-Bay Jetty only to come back to see her room completely raised by fire.
“She said that she left her children under the care of one Suliat who locked the children in the room and left for an unknown destination.
“The children who were burnt beyond recognition are: Folake Ogundiya , 13, Abigail Ogundiya, 8 , Daniel Bakare, 6, Chidinma Achomye, 2, Nnamdi Achomye ,1 ,” he said.
Similarly, the Police also had commenced investigations into the death of a woman who died in a hotel room in Morogbo in Badagry area of the state where she had lodged.
The spokesman of the command said that on Aug. 9, at about 2p.m, the Morogbo Police Station received information that one Jessica, a lodger in South Bound Hotel, Morogbo, was found dead in her hotel room.
Elkana said the homicide detectives had visited the scene, and found the corpse of the deceased on the bed facing up, with swollen face and foam- like fluid coming out of her mouth.
“Her throat was knotted with clothes suggesting that she might have been strangulated.
“There were blood stains all over the place. The corpse was evacuated to a mortuary for autopsy while the scene was preserved for forensic analysis.
“The Commissioner of Police for Lagos State, CP Zubairu Muazu, has ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department based in Yaba to take over the investigation,” he said.
- NAN