Expdonaloaded News; Lagos fire: How 80-year-old, others, were roasted

MORE chilly revelations have emerged, regarding how a late-night fire roasted no fewer than eight family members last week in Obele area of Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos. A man identified as Kelechi Onoja, wife, Nkiru, their one-year and eight months-old child, Favour, and their three-week, unnamed, second born, were burnt to death.
The man’s unidentified, mother in-law, 80, and two family members, Odinaka, 12, and Ukamaka, 13, who might have accompanied the octogenarian to Lagos were also victims of the inferno. Six-year-old Chidinma, the eighth victim, who was earlier rescued alive by officials of the Lagos Fire Service, died at the Gbagada General Hospital afterwards.
When our correspondent visited in Obele, there was an unusual air of quietness around the compound. The ill-fated building was a Mecca of some sort, as many who heard about the sad incident continued to troop to the area.
When the octogenarian, who perished in the inferno, left her native Nsukka, Enugu community, she did not factor that she might not return alive. She meant well, coming to nurse her grand infant, as it is customary with the Igbo. But she did not know that she was making her last journey.
A neigbour, who did not want to identified, told our correspondent that it was suspected that the old woman lit a candle and placed it on a table, as she bathed the new baby. She was believed to have forgotten to extinguish the candle light after responding to the baby while the couple and everyone else in the house slept. The fire from the candle was believed to have later burnt the table to set up the disaster.
“The old woman might have lit a candle stick while the baby was crying. You know at that hour of the day, even the strongest of men can easily fall asleep not to talk about an old woman. The lighted-candle might have caused the fire,” she said even as some people suspected the couple night have stored some combustive substance in the apartment as they could not understand while the house could burn the way it did.
However, our correspondent was told that on the night of the disaster, their neighbours allegedly initially ignored to help while they shouted for help. Our correspondent was told that in the days before, there was some animosity between them and their neigbours which grew into a gulf over time.
Residents and sympathisers, who continued to throng Michael Ogun Street, were still in shock. They murmured and shuddered, as they gathered in small groups, lamenting the anguish the victims suffered in their dying moments. They wondered how it felt as fire wrecked total havoc on them.
Expdonaloaded blog learnt that Chidinma, who sustained burns and swollen injuries in her face and hands, was allegedly rejected at nearby teaching hospital in the Lagos, for failure to make financial deposits before treatment could be commenced. She was later admitted at the Trauma and Burns Ward of the General Hospital, Gbagada. Mrs. Faleti, a resident, who stood by Chidinma, lamented the tragic loss.
She said: “I don’t understand the kind of enmity in their neighbourhood that people couldn’t help the family on time. We also don’t have good government here in Nigeria. Why should we ask for money first before helping ourselves (in the hospital)?
“This is tragic; all my efforts were wasted. For three days, I was with this girl, but now she’s gone. They were all trapped between the kitchen and the bedroom before being burnt to death. Chidinma was burnt in the face. Her head was swollen. We first rushed her to the teaching hospital, but they rejected her because we couldn’t make any deposit for treatment.
“The girl wouldn’t have died if she had been treated promptly when we took her there.”
Other residents around the Lawanson said the burglar proofs on the windows debarred the victims from escaping to safety.
Expdonaloaded blog observed that some tenants in the neighbour had their apartments under lock and key for no identifiable reason. However, some sympathisers further alleged that if the neigbours had put aside their animosity they might have saved the Onojas from paying the tragic price. They argued that if their co-tenants had offered a helping hand on time, some of the victims would have been rescued.
A community leader, Chief Kareem Awoyemi, was furious over the death, blaming the disaster on both the immediate neighbours as well as the nature of the buildings in the area, in terms of their proximity. “With this accident, we can understand that there was no love lost between the victims and their neigbours.
“But as a human being, even if I am not friendly with anyone, if they are passing through a critical moment, I’m obliged to assist them. They should question the co-tenants for their suspected negligence. They called me around 3am when the fire had already wreaked great havoc.
“I am just wondering whether the victims kept a keg of petrol inside the apartment. I wouldn’t know whether that was why the whole place was burnt like that. The building is sandwiched by two other buildings. They used to sell spare parts in the place before it was turned to a residential apartment. The lives lost were just many. The Community Development Association will set up a committee to probe the incident.
“The five self-contained apartments were not well spaced; that might have contributed to the high casualty figure. I am calling on the government to look critically into what transpired. My little investigation showed there was always fighting and disagreement in the house.”
When our correspondent arrived in the area, he noticed that officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency had already marked the ill-fated house as distressed. Even while everyone mourned some officials of the agency visited to conduct further investigations on the building.
Kelechi was said to be a gentle hardworking young man, who always conducted himself with dignity and went about his lawful business. He was said to be a trader in textile materials at Yaba Market. Shortly before the disaster struck, he was said to have been gathering money apparently to celebrate the arrival of his baby.
Nobody had a premonition of death in the family, as his grandmother-in-law had arrived from Nsukka in Enugu State to help take care of the new baby.
Now, the rest, they say, is history, as the Onojas are no more. Their remains were said to have taken to the mortuary including that of Chidinma the last to die.
Another resident of Obele, who identified herself as Ms. Joy, said the community had been in mourning since the ugly incidence. “This is a bad thing. A new baby is supposed to bring joy and happiness to every family. But this one is different. I wonder why the Onojas were this unlucky. One cannot imagine such gruesome death coming at the time it did. Only God can comfort the extended family members,” she said.
The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, said that there was need for increased vigilance among residents. “We are still at a loss why the casualty was that high because the fire itself was not that severe. The kitchen was not affected, so nobody can explain why it was that serious,” he added.
Similar incident happened on June 16 this year when three kids of same parents perished at Egbeda area of Lagos, shortly after the arrival of a new baby. The three children – Ifeoma, nine, Emeka, seven, and Ugoma, three were the victims. They died while their father went to visit their mother, who had just given birth at a nearby hospital. They allegedly lighted a candle, which fell and started burning the furniture. There was no rescue for the innocent kids. By the time their father returned to the apartment, the worst had happened. All his children had been burnt to death by the ensuing fire that engulfed their apartment.
No help came their way, as they were locked inside the building, shouting for help.