Tragedy: Family of 7 burnt to death in Benue

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.”