Christopher Oji
Fire outbreak at the weekend killed a five-year-old boy in the Igando area of Lagos and destroyed property worth millions of naira.
Also two occupants of an uber taxi were injured by poisonous gas inhaled from the leakages from the car air-conditioner.
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bala Elkana, told our correspondent that the Igando Police Station received a distress call that there was an inferno at No 4, Ben Okonkwo, Igando and the police raced to the scene.
Bala said that a five-year-old boy, Praise Emeka, was burnt beyond recognition while property worth millions of naira was destroyed.
He said the combined efforts of the police and fire service led to the rescue of other occupants of the building and prevented the fire from escalating.
In another development, Elkana said the police also saved two persons from gas poisoning.
According to him, a police patrol team from the Bariga division while on patrol along Shobande, Akoka, noticed a black Hyundai vehicle parked along the road with two occupants: Abiodun Balogun, 32, and Odisha Ginika, 21, lying unconscious on driver and passenger seats respectively.
“They were rushed to the hospital for medical attention while the vehicle was removed from the scene for inspection. They were resuscitated by the medical team on duty and later discharged from the hospital. A preliminary investigation revealed that the man was an Uber driver while the lady was his passenger. They became unconscious as a result of a poisonous chemical substance/gas they inhaled due to the leakage from the air conditioning system.”
Elkana said that the police were investigating an armed robbery suspect arrested with military camouflage to ascertain if he was among a gang of dismissed soldiers arrested recently by the command.
He said the FESTAC police station received a distress call from a filling station at 2nd Rainbow, that an armed robbery suspect was sighted along the area. He said an anti-robbery patrol team was promptly drafted to the location. The suspect who was identified as Okeke was arrested with two phones, one sword, house-breaking implements, two daggers, a POS machine and an ATM card.
He said investigation was ongoing to ascertain where and how he got the military uniform he was operating with and to also identify other members of his gang.
“It is not yet established whether he belongs to the gang of dismissed soldiers arrested some weeks ago. The suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.”