From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
A young man was set on fire on Monday night by his estranged girlfriend in Gboko Town for calling off their relationship.
Daily Sun gathered that the young man simply identified as Jude, had been in the romantic relationship with the lady for some time until he decided to end it, a development which apparently did not go down well with the lady.
A source who gave his name as Haainya Aondoakula said the reason for the lady’s action could be traced to the guy’s refusal to marry her due to her misbehaviour and hatred towards his mother.
He stated that the two lovebirds had had a heated argument earlier that day, where Jude had asked the lady whose name was yet to be known at the time of this report to pack out of his house.
‘He (Jude) thought he had heard the last of it but he was wrong. About 1:30 am, the girlfriend reportedly returned to the compound with three men, they tore open the nets at the window and started pouring a substance suspected to be petrol into the room through the window.’
Aondoakula, who was with the young man at an undisclosed hospital in Gboko, where he is currently receiving treatment, told our correspondent that he was badly burnt but was responding to treatment.
‘Jude told me that he saw the girlfriend himself from the inside as she was pulling off the nets. He said his estranged girlfriend threw a container into the room where he was with his mother and another two-year-old child and immediately lit a match stick and took off.
‘The whole room caught fire, and the young man, confused and helpless battled to save his mother and the little child in the room.’
After committing the crime, the young lady was said to have padlocked the door from outside, jumped on an already parked motorcycle outside the compound and took off to an unknown destination.
It was further gathered that it was Jude’s cries for help that woke neighbours around who rushed to see what was happening.
‘They met a burning room and three people battling to escape from the fire. They broke the door, managed to put out the fire and rushed the young man to the hospital.
‘Although all three persons in the room are still alive, the young man is left with severe burns from the fire incidence while his mother and the child sustained minor burns,’ Aondoakula said.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Catherine Anene, who confirmed the report, said the police had launched a manhunt for the suspect who is currently at large.
It would be recalled that only recently in Makurdi, a married man had set himself and his girlfriend ablaze, killing both of them in the inferno after the lady ended the unholy relationship to enable her to marry the man of her choice.