Christopher Oji

It was a black weekend at the Takwa Bay area of Lagos as five children of same family were burnt to death. 

Also, a female lodger was strangled in a hotel room at the Morogbo area of the metropolis.

It was gathered that Mrs Florence Asoye had left home in the morning to Takwa Bay Jetty and left her children under the care of a maid, who locked the children in the room and left for unknown destination.

When Asonye returned home, she saw that her room was completely raised by fire.

The woman, who thought maybe her five children were rescued, asked for their whereabouts but was told by sympathizers that they were burnt beyond recognition.

Lagos State police public relations officer, Bala Elkana, said the Takwa Bay divisional police officer and his team visited the scene of the tragedy. He said: “The children, who were burnt beyond recognition, were identified as Folake Ogundiya, 13, Abigail Ogundiya, 8, Daniel Bakare, 6, Chidima Achomye, Nnamdi Achomye, 2, and one-year-old Khadijat.”

According to Elkana, information  was received by the police that there was a fire incident at Abagbo village, Takwa-Bay, which claimed the lives of five children from the same family.

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“A team of detectives led by the DPO visited the scene. In her statement, the mother of the victims, Florence Asoye, stated that, she left home at about 6.30am to Takwa-bay jetty only to come back to see her room completely raised by fire.

“According to her, she left her children under the care of Suliat, who  locked the children in the room and left to unknown destination,” he said.

In another development, Bala said that during the same weekend, a female lodger was found dead in a hotel room in Morogbo area of the state.

He said Morogbo police station received information that Jessica, a lodger in Southbound Hotel, Morogbo was found dead in her room.

He said: “Homicide detectives visited the scene and discovered that the deceased was on the bed facing up, with swollen face and foam-like fluid oozing out of her mouth.  The detectives also found out that her throat was knotted with clothes, suggesting that she might have been strangulated. There were also blood stains all over the place.

“The body was evacuated to mortuary for autopsy while the scene was preserved for forensic analysis.”

He said the state Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, has ordered the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba, to take over the investigation of the matters.