The Osun State Fire Service on Monday said it had begun a probe into the fire incident which killed a Customs officer attached to the Oyo/Osun Command, Tijani Kabiru, his wife and four children in their house in Ede.
The incident which occurred in Akankan Area of Ede in the early hours of Monday, immediately threw the community into mourning and caused panic among the residents, who woke up to the news of the passage of the victims.
Residents of the area where the affected house was located, who were contacted by our correspondent for comments refused the offer, but a neighbour to the late Kabiru, said to be in his 40s, simply identified as Kola, said a smoke was observed from the house around 3:am.
Upon discovery that the smoke was coming from Kabiru’s house, Kola said the fire service operatives from the Ede Fire Station were contacted.
Despite responding early, Kola however said the house had been badly razed before the arrival of the firemen, adding that Kabiru, his wife, and the four children lost their lives in the inferno while one of the children escaped.
“I can’t say when the fire started, but we observed smoke at about 3 am. The response time of the firemen was not bad but the house had been badly affected before the fire could be subdued. Kabiru, his wife and four children were already burnt to death. But one of the children escaped death,” Kola said.
When contacted, the spokesperson for the State Fire Service, Ibraheem Adekunle, in a statement signed by the Director of the Service, Mr Olaniyi Alimi, confirmed the incident, saying six lives were lost to the inferno.
Alimi, who said a probe to unravel the cause of the inferno had begun, added that the cause of the fire was still unknown.
The statement partly read, “We were informed of the incident via a distress call to our emergency number 08030808254 at 3:21a.m and our team from Ede Zonal Command proceeded to the scene with a backup team joining them from Fire Service Headquarters, Abere.
“The address of the fire incident is Tijani Kabiru Road, Akankan Area, Ede North LG. The street was named after the deceased who was a Customs officer from Oyo/Osun Command.
“Mr Tijani Kabiru who was reported to be in his late 40s and his wife, said to be in her early 40s, lost their lives to the inferno that was suspected to have started like an hour before the fire service got the information.
“They (the couple) lost their lives alongside four of their children (three boys and a girl) with their ages ranging from three-10 years. The estimated loss to the inferno was put to around N200m, while the property saved was worth N500m.
“Their bodies were handed over to the men of A’ Division of the Nigeria Police Force. Only one of their sons, out of the family of seven escaped from the fire. The boy who escaped from the fire is about 13 years of age. The cause of the incident is still unknown, but a probe to unravel it has begun.”
