Lagos couple lose four children in midnight fire
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By Olamide Famuwagun
July 6, 2022
A couple, Chukwudi Micheal and Bolani Micheal, are inconsolable after losing four children in a fire that destroyed their two-room apartment on Tapa Road, Oke-Oko, Isawo, in the district of Ikorodu in Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro understands the incident happened around 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 26, with one of the children, 12-year-old Jeremiah, dying instantly.
The other three siblings: Prayer, 18; Trust in God, 14; and Ebube, 10, suffered severe burns and were rushed to hospital, where they died a few days later.
Our correspondent, who spoke with the family on Monday, learned that the husband and wife were sleeping in a separate bedroom with their eight-year-old surviving daughter, Esther.
The fire would have engulfed the room where the four boys slept.
The victims' father, Chukwudi, told PUNCH Metro he woke up to the cry of one of his children, who was crying out for help.
He said: "After I woke up, I alerted some neighbors who helped me break the windows of the boys because their door was locked. We were able to rescue three of the boys from the fire, but one of them had already been burned alive. We immediately took them to the hospital with the help of a neighbor's car, but we lost them in the end."
The 46-year-old noted that men from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service only came in the morning when the fire was put out by neighbours.
However, state fire department public education officer Amodu Shakiru said the fire was put out by firefighters, adding that five people were rescued.
He said, "We rescued five people and recovered the burned body of a teenager."
The couple noted that they did not know how the fire started, as everything that could start the fire had been extinguished.
Our correspondent observed that the husband and wife also suffered from varying degrees of burns, which they were treating at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
A pastor at the Covenant Light Church, Ikorodu, where the couple and their children worshipped, Ayoshanu Samuel, told PUNCH Metro that the victims were buried.
He said the incident was reported to Owutu Police Station.
State Police Public Relations Officer Benjamin Hundeyin confirmed the incident.
He said, "Yes, it happened. The incident is still under investigation."
Please share this story:
By Olamide Famuwagun
July 6, 2022
A couple, Chukwudi Micheal and Bolani Micheal, are inconsolable after losing four children in a fire that destroyed their two-room apartment on Tapa Road, Oke-Oko, Isawo, in the district of Ikorodu in Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro understands the incident happened around 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 26, with one of the children, 12-year-old Jeremiah, dying instantly.
The other three siblings: Prayer, 18; Trust in God, 14; and Ebube, 10, suffered severe burns and were rushed to hospital, where they died a few days later.
Our correspondent, who spoke with the family on Monday, learned that the husband and wife were sleeping in a separate bedroom with their eight-year-old surviving daughter, Esther.
The fire would have engulfed the room where the four boys slept.
The victims' father, Chukwudi, told PUNCH Metro he woke up to the cry of one of his children, who was crying out for help.
He said: "After I woke up, I alerted some neighbors who helped me break the windows of the boys because their door was locked. We were able to rescue three of the boys from the fire, but one of them had already been burned alive. We immediately took them to the hospital with the help of a neighbor's car, but we lost them in the end."
The 46-year-old noted that men from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service only came in the morning when the fire was put out by neighbours.
However, state fire department public education officer Amodu Shakiru said the fire was put out by firefighters, adding that five people were rescued.
He said, "We rescued five people and recovered the burned body of a teenager."
The couple noted that they did not know how the fire started, as everything that could start the fire had been extinguished.
Our correspondent observed that the husband and wife also suffered from varying degrees of burns, which they were treating at the Lagos State Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
A pastor at the Covenant Light Church, Ikorodu, where the couple and their children worshipped, Ayoshanu Samuel, told PUNCH Metro that the victims were buried.
He said the incident was reported to Owutu Police Station.
State Police Public Relations Officer Benjamin Hundeyin confirmed the incident.
He said, "Yes, it happened. The incident is still under investigation."
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