The three sons of Mr and Mrs Udoh were killed in a fire incident at their home in Bayelsa on January 14th. Narrating the sad incident to Daily Sun, Udoh, who is a commercial motorcyclist, said on the day of the incident, he had returned from work and had asked his daughter to buy him some drugs. He said his wife who sells food had gone to the market to buy materials she needed to make Suallu bean cake and pap, which she sells to residents in the neighbourhood.
He said after waiting for his daughter who did not return on time, he decided to go and look for her and left his three sons who were asleep at home. Unfortunately, he locked them inside the house, hoping to come back on time.
Not long after he left the house, neighbors started shouting "Fire, Fire" and running to his house. Before they could break open the door, the boys had burnt to death. Preliminary investigation by the police concluded that the fire incident was caused by a lit candle, but residents of the area held the contrary view that the fire was a mystery.
One of the neighbors of the family, who gave her name simply as Josephine, said nobody could explain how the fire started because it burnt the two rooms of the landlord before consuming the house of the Udohs. According to her, the fire was so intense that before people could rescue the children, they had been burnt to death. However, she noted that the children might have been able to escape if the door was not locked from outside.
The mother of the boys has remained inconsolable since the incident happened. When she was visited at her new apartment, she couldn't speak at all. A relative of the Udoh's, Victoria Dominic also narrated the sad incident. She also believes that the fire incident was mysterious.
“On Thursday around 8 pm, her husband was in the house, she sells bean cake and akamu. She went out to buy some ingredients and collect her phone from where she used to charge it because she does not want to use lantern or candle because of the kerosene in the house. From there the husband went to check their first daughter who was sent to buy drugs. It was from there they heard shouts of fire and when they got to the house and open the door, the three boys inside had been roasted to death. There was no way to rescue them. They are in a terrible state and they are in need of help. They have nothing left. The husband’s motorcycle is gone, and all their life savings are gone too. The Apostolic church where we are worshiping has been helping but people need to come to their assistance and provide the capital they need to start their business again. People are donating clothes to them. We appeal to the state government and well meaning Bayelsans to come to their aid,” she said.
The corpses of the dead sons were initially deposited at the mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre for autopsy and further investigations but the bodies were later released to the family for burial.
Source; Linda Ikeji, Daily Sun
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