Widow’s 3 Kids Die in Fire that Engulfed their Lagos Home

A widow’s three children all died in a fire that engulfed their one-room apartment on Liasu Road, in the Ikotun Egbe area of Lagos State.

Narrating how the tragic incident occurred, mother of the deceased, Ngozi Nzediba, says she had asked the children to prepare noodles and then locked them up in the room around 2 pm, and proceeded to buy some things down the road. A fire broke out at the home, leaving them with no chance of an escape.

Punch reports that Chiamaka (female, nine years old); Emmanuel (male, seven years old) and Chigozie (male, five years old),  sustained burns and were rushed to a private hospital in the area, they however died on Wednesday.

On visiting the scene, correspondents learnt that the deceased children could have been saved, but neighbors and other tenants were busy saving their properties and children before any assistance was rendered to the burning children in the building.

Another resident, who identified herself as Bola Oguntoyinbo, blamed the children’s mother for locking them up in the room.

“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.”

A police source said investigations confirmed that Ngozi asked her children to prepare meal in the room before leaving the house.

 “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.” He said.

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The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service,  Razak Fadipe, also confirmed the incident, saying that the residents didn’t call for help as they should have, but were trying to put out the fire themselves and save their properties. The Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmos, commenting on the case, said that investigations had begun into the incident, to find out the culpability of the mother, as the children were all underage.

Ngozi, the grieving mother has  been moved to a relative’s house to recover from the shock.

Photo Credit: Punch