Punch reports:
Residents of Ajumose,
Ogbein area of Ede in Osun State were woken up by the screams of three
children, their mother and her lover, who were engulfed by fire on Sunday,
August 16.
It was gathered that
the victims were set ablaze by a man, who allegedly felt scorned that his lover
was also dating another man.
The five victims were
said to be the suspect’s rival, Munirudeen Lawal; the lover, Hadijat Adegoke,
and her three children.
Lawal and Adegoke were
said to have been rushed to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, as a result of the burns they suffered.
Sources at the hospital
told our correspondent on Thursday that Lawal died on Tuesday while Hadijat
died on Wednesday.
Our correspondent
gathered that Adegoke, 35, had recently moved to her own house, which had yet
to be completed.
The woman, along with
her four children ─ Fawas (13), Ishwat (12), Sodiq (8), and Fathia (6), were
said to be the residents in the two-bedroomed apartment.
It was gathered that
Adegoke had a bricklayer lover who assisted in erecting the structure, while
other lovers also helped to erect the structure to its present state.
It was gathered that
Adegoke abandoned her husband at a rented apartment and invited Lawal to pass
the night at the new house.
Residents of the area
said an unidentified man, who was also Adekoge’s lover, sneaked into the area.
One of the residents,
who pleaded not to be named, said, “The man discovered that they were having
sex. He was visibly angry. Nobody paid him any notice because such drama was
not a new thing here.”
PUNCH Metro, however, gathered
that the unnamed scorned lover came back with a jerrycan of petrol, poured the
content around the room Adegoke and Lawal were sleeping and set it ablaze
before escaping from the area.
The fire which affected
only the room, burnt the two lovers and three out of Adegoke’s four children.
The kids were said to
have sustained serious burns, but Ishwat escaped unscarred because she had yet
to sleep when the suspect set the house ablaze.
Residents of the area
told our correspondent that they heard cries from the victims’ house and
assisted in putting out the fire, and later took the victims to a hospital in
the area.
The three kids were
taken to Muslim Hospital, Ede. Their maternal grandma, Mrs. Folasade Gafar, who
was seen sobbing in the hospital, had yet to be told of the death of her
daughter when our correspondent visited the place on Wednesday.
The three children were
seen writhing in pains, while the grandma and Ishwat were busy fanning them
with hand fans.
The grandma said the
hospital had not asked them to pay any bill, but had commenced treatment. She
called on Nigerians to come to the aid of the kids.
Ishwat told our
correspondent that she saw the man with a 50-litre jerrycan at 9pm on Sunday
when she went outside the house to urinate.
She said that she did
not know the man, but she had thought that he was urinating as well. She added
that around 11pm, she smelled petrol, but before she could do anything, the
fire had engulfed the room.
She said the man who
slept inside the house on the fateful day was not her dad.
The Area Commander, Nigerian
Security and Civil Defence Corps, Osun West, Mr. Femi Awofade, confirmed the
incident.
He said an
investigation was ongoing to uncover who perpetrated the act, saying the
suspect, when arrested would be made to face the wrath of the law.
The Head, Public
Relations and Protocol of the NSCDC, Mr. Wale Folarin, confirmed the death of
Adegoke and Lawal to our correspondent on the telephone.
He said, “I can confirm
to you that the woman and the man have died. They died at the LAUTECH Teaching
Hospital.”
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