A 43-year-old teacher, Gbemisola Edward,
and her 11-year-old daughter, Dolapo, have been confirmed dead at an
Ogun State hospital after suffering from severe burns.
The woman’s husband, Joshua, was said to
have poured petrol on her, their daughter, and his seven-year-old son,
Samson, and set fire on them.
Olokunbola gist learnt the incident
happened on Thursday on Augustine Street, Ire Akari Estate, in the Ifo
Local Government Area, Ogun State, after a disagreement between the
couple.
Gbemisola’s son, Joshua Babatunde, 16,
who escaped by a whisker, said his stepfather had wanted his mother to
sell their three-bedroomed apartment, but she refused.
He said, “It was the scream of my mother
that woke me up. Dolapo and Samson were also set ablaze. I wanted to
put out the fire when my stepfather poured petrol on me as well. Before
he returned with matches, I managed to escape and reported at the Ifo
Police Station.
“He was working with a factory but was
sacked some months ago. He then told my mother to sell the house so that
he could use the money to start a business. But my mother said she
would never sell the house she struggled to build.
“We moved into the house in January. The
following month, he and Samson started living with us. It was a woman
at our former residence in Iyana Ipaja (Lagos State) that bore Samson
for him. He used to beat mum while we were in Iyana Ipaja.”
Olokunbola gist gathered that
Joshua fled immediately the incident happened, while the victims were
admitted to Aron Hospital, a private facility in the area.
Dolapo was said to have died a few minutes after she got to the hospital while the mother died on Friday.
Samson, who has burns in the head, hands and legs, is still responding to treatment.
Gbemisola’s brother, Wale, said she had
always been abused by the husband, adding that constant beatings forced
her to relocate from Iyana Ipaja to Ifo.
He said, “Their relationship had been
fraught with quarrels since when he was living with my sister in our
house at Iyana Ipaja. There was a time he threatened to kill her with a
machete. He stole her money and fled.
“When he knew my sister had built a
house, he went there to reconcile with her. She insisted that they
needed to go to the registry which they did in February. I visited my
sister two weeks ago. She said her husband had been threatening her
again and that she had told him to leave by the end of August.
“It was on Thursday afternoon that I got a call that he set her and the children ablaze.”
The Managing Director, Aron Hospital,
Dr. Kayode Ayoola, said, “The burns were serious. The girl died about 10
minutes after she was admitted, while her mother died the following
day. The boy’s condition is relatively okay but nobody is ready to take
care of him.”
The Ogun State Police Command’s acting
spokesperson, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the command had launched a
manhunt for the killer husband.
He said, “We learnt the man and his wife
had a quarrel over the ownership of the house they lived in. While the
family was asleep, the man poured patrol on the living room and set it
ablaze. As a result, the woman and the two children suffered first
degree burns. The Commissioner of Police has ordered that the suspect be
fished out. He can only run, he cannot hide.”
