Tragedy struck on Thursday when seven members of the same family got burnt in a midnight inferno at Anyamkor near Young Secondary School, Gboko, Benue State.Saturday Sun gathered that the fire, which ravaged four flats of two bedrooms each, started at Mr. Lawani Oye’s flat around 11.40pm and burnt to death the husband, wife and their five children.
Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that as soon as the fire started from Oye’s flat, his wife popularly known as Mama Tunde was said to have raised the alarm, which prompted other neighbours to rush out of their flats.
“We were jolted out of sleep with the shout from the neighbour’s flat as Mama Tunde was shouting fire! fire!! fire!!!. It was her shout that woke us up and we all rushed out of our flats without evacuating anything.”
The victims’ neighbour who did not want her name in print expressed grief that the same woman who raised the alarm could not be saved as she and her family were burnt beyond recognition.
The eyewitness who could not ascertain the cause of the inferno, said that the only clue was that the generator was running in the night and by the time they went round after the fire they saw a lantern near the generating set.
It was gathered that the charred bodies of the deceased were left at the premises of the General Hospital, Gboko, at the time of filing this report because the workers were on strike. When contacted, the acting Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Matthew Oku said that the command was yet to be briefed on the incident
