A widow, known as Mrs. Ngozi Nzediba, has lost the
three children she has after the family’s one-room
apartment on Liasu Road, in the Ikotun Egbe area of
Lagos State caught fire. It was learnt that Ngozi had
asked the children to prepare noodles and locked them
up in the room around 2pm on Tuesday.
She was said to have left them to buy some things on the
street when the fire engulfed the apartment, leaving the
children with no chance of escape.
The three children, identified as Chiamaka (female, nine
years old); Emmanuel (male, seven years old) and
Chigozie (male, five years old), reportedly sustained
burns and were rushed to a private hospital in the area.
They, however, died on Wednesday.
When our correspondent visited 15 Ikuna Street, where
the incident happened, he observed some sympathisers
discussing the incident.
Our correspondent gathered that the children’s father
died about four years ago.
A tenant in the house, who did not identify herself, said
she was tending to her child when somebody raised the
alarm about the fire.
She said, “It was a little boy that alerted us to the fire. I
quickly picked my baby and ran out. I didn’t know what
led to the fire.”
It was learnt that the children could have been rescued
before they were burnt; but tenants in the house were
preoccupied with saving their property and taking their
children to safety.
The fire was said to have escalated before residents were
able to break the burglar proof bars of the room to rescue
the children through the window, and douse the flames.
A resident, Bola Oguntoyinbo, blamed the children’s
mother for locking them up in the room.
She said, “She locked the door against the children and
went out.
The window had burglar-proof bars, which made it hard
to save the children. It is unfortunate because she lost
her husband about four and half years ago and had been
taking care of the kids since then.”
Our correspondent observed that the burnt clothes of the
children were scattered outside the house.
A tenant, who was seen lamenting a personal loss, was
prevented from speaking to our correspondent by the
landlord’s wife, who insisted that PUNCH Metro leave the
area.
The landlord’s wife, a fair woman, threatened to beat up
our correspondent when he enquired about the fire.
At a point, the woman began calling some persons on the
telephone, as this correspondent hurriedly left the scene.
She said, “We don’t want this in the media. If you don’t
leave now, we will beat you up.”
Our correspondent learnt that the landlord had gone to
the Ikotun Police Division to report the matter, while
Ngozi had been taken to a relative’s house where she
was expected to recover from the shock of the incident.
A police source said preliminary investigation showed that
Ngozi asked her children to prepare meal in the room
before leaving the house.
He said, “The incident happened on Tuesday around 2pm.
There was no power supply in the area, so it had nothing
to do with electricity.
The woman left the children in the house and locked the
door. She asked them to put noodles on fire. It is possible
that the children didn’t handle the stove well, which
resulted in the tragedy.
“They sustained burns and were also choked by the
flames. They were immediately rushed to a private
hospital, where they died. The corpses have been
deposited in a mortuary.”
The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Razak
Fadipe, confirmed the incident.
He said, “They didn’t call us on time; they were busy
battling the fire on their own and trying to save their
property. Immediately we learnt of the incident, we sent
men from the Agege Fire Station.
The fire started from the family room and it ended there.
When we arrived, we were told that the children had been
taken to a hospital and we visited them. It was there we
were told that their mother locked them inside the house
and went out.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos,
said investigations had begun into the incident.
She said, “The three children died in the early hours of
Wednesday after they sustained burns in the fire incident.
All of them were underage. The scene has been visited by
our operatives and photographs taken.
We are
investigating to find out the culpability of their mother
who locked them inside the house.”
