Fire Incident Claims Couple’s Four Children In Lagos State

Four children were lost in a fire that destroyed a couple’s two-room residence on Tapa Road, Oke-Oko, Isawo in the Ikorodu district of Lagos State, leaving Chukwudi and Bolani Michael inconsolable.

According to PUNCH, the tragedy happened on Sunday, June 26, at 1pm, and one of the kids, Jeremiah, age 12, passed away immediately.

The other three siblings—Prayer, age 18, Trust in God, age 14, and Ebube, age 10—were severely burned and taken to the hospital, where they passed away a few days later.

The couple had slept apart from their eight-year-old surviving daughter, Esther, while they were married.

The four boys’ sleeping quarters were claimed to have been completely destroyed by fire.

He said, “After waking up, I alerted neighbours who helped me to break the windows of the boys because their door was locked. We were able to rescue three of the boys from the fire, but one had already been burnt to death. We rushed them immediately to a hospital with the help of a neighbour’s car, but we eventually lost them.”

The 46-year-old noted that men of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service only came in the morning when the fire had been put out by neighbours.

However, the Public Education Officer of the state fire service, Amodu Shakiru, stated that the fire was put out by firefighters, adding that five persons were rescued.

He said, “We rescued five persons and recovered the burnt body of a teenager.”
The couple noted that they were oblivious to how the fire started as anything that could start the fire had been put off.

Both the husband and wife also sustained varying degrees of burns, which they were treating at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

A pastor with Covenant Light Church, Ikorodu, where the couple and their children worshipped, Ayoshanu Samuel, said the victims had been buried.

He said the incident was reported at the Owutu Police Station.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident.
He said, “Yes, it happened. The incident is still under investigation.”