From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

A mysterious fire has burnt to death a three months old baby in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

The incident, which happened on the popular Awe Street at about 10:30am last Monday, also razed an eight-room apartment within the premises.

According to sources from the area, the fire started from an inner room of the eight room building and spread to other rooms in the house.

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The baby was said to have been left with a neighbour by her mother when she was leaving for study in an Islamic school within the neighbourhood.

A source said, “Because of the sudden outbreak of the fire, nobody remembered that the baby was sleeping in the house.”

Mother of the child, Amira Abdul, who remained inconsolable when our correspondent visited the area, recounted her last moments with her second child, saying: “When I finished bathing and dressing my baby up, my co-tenants were telling me that she was looking very beautiful. I then dropped her with my neighbour and left for school.

“I was still in school when somebody came to inform us that there was fire outbreak in my compound. Initially, I didn’t take it seriously, because I thought it was a minor fire incidence until another woman came and told me to go home.