A family of seven have been burnt to death after
a fire engulfed their home in Ayankor, Gboko,
Benue state.
According to an eyewitness, the inferno razed the
block of three flats, killing Mr. And Mrs. Lawani
Oye and their five children, as though other
occupants of the building managed to escape.
Lawani Oye was a popular automobile panel
beater in Gboko while his wife was a business
woman in the neighborhood.
It was revealed that the fire started at about
1am, when everyone had gone to sleep.
The eyewitness said: “The fire started at about
1am in Mr. Oye’s flat when everyone in the
neighbourhood, including the victims of the
inferno were asleep.
“It was his wife and mother of the dead children
who we popularly call Mama Tunde, who raised
the alarm that prompted other neighbours to rush
out of their flats and after failing to fight the
strange fire however managed to escape.”
“Our pain about this tragic and unfortunate
incident is that the same woman who died with
her family in the fire was the one who raised the
alarm that saved others. They were burnt beyond
recognition.”
“The whole thing is still a mystery to neighbors
and no one can, at this moment, ascertain the
cause of the inferno but the only clue we have is
that their generator was on that night and by the
time we went round after the fire, we saw that a
lantern was positioned very close to the
generating set.”
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