A family of seven has reportedly lost their lives in a midnight fire that engulfed their house in Gboko area of Benue State.
Vanguard reports that the head of the family, Lawani Oye, put on his power generating set but mistakenly left a lantern with flames not far from where the generator was positioned on the night of the incident.
He was said to have left his generator set on all through the night to enable his family members have a good sleeping environment due to the epileptic power supply in the country. The inferno that engulfed the block of three flats at the early hours of Friday, at Ayankor, close to Young Secondary School, Gboko East, in Gboko local government area of the state claimed the lives of no fewer than seven members of the family.
An eyewitness said the inferno, which started at about 1am, engulfed the block of flats, killing the husband, wife and their five children. He said the victims were roasted beyond recognition.
The witness revealed that Oye was a popular automobile panel beater in Gboko while his wife was a business woman in the neighborhood.
One of Oye’s colleagues, who gave his name as Ter, said the deceased, before his untimely death, was one of the most trusted hands in the panel beating business in the area.
“He was a man who knew his job and had no issues with anyone. We were all shocked to hear that he died after closing from work, alongside his entire family in the disaster. Though we have declare a day of mourning for him and the family by closing our business for the day in respect and honour for the departed family, we will all miss him because he was a good man,” Ter said.
When the state command acting Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Assistant Superintendent, ASP, Matthew Oku, was contacted, he said he was yet to receive the full report of the unfortunate incident from the Gboko Divisional station.
