THE NATION THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013
10
CITYBEATS Family of five Row dies in fire over teen's death H
CITYBEATS LINE: 08023247888
By Precious Igbonwelundu
AN early morning fire yesterday consumed a family of five, including two teenagers, at Shagari Estate, Ipaja, a Lagos suburb. The fire, which was said to have started at about 2am, at C89, Koda Street, Mosan Okun-Ola Local Council Development Area (LCDA), raged for several hours. Various rescue agencies joined hands to douse it. The building is reportedly owned by a woman identified as Mama Nurse. One of the victims was said to have just returned from Dubai. The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasaq Fadipe, said it took the combined efforts of the Ikotun and Agege Fire Service Stations to quench the inferno. He said: "We were alerted that there was a fire on the premises and on arrival, we discovered the fire was very serious. Initially, a truck from Ikotun Fire Station was deployed, but when we saw the seriousness of the fire, an Agege Fire Service truck was also brought into the scene. Each of the trucks contained 10, 000 litres of water. "The affected building is a three-bedroom flat attached to a main building. We prevented the inferno from escalating and spreading to the main building. In the course of our operations, five bodies already consumed by the fire were recovered. They included two children, between ages five and 15." Although the cause of the fire could not be readily ascertained, Fadipe said: "The fire can be attributed to candle light because there was no electricity and we learnt the family had lit a candle and went to sleep. The bodies were handed over to the police." The spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Southwest, Ibrahim Farinloye, and General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Femi Osayintolu, also confirmed the incident and the casualty figure. The police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Ngozi Braide, could not be reached for comments.
WANTED Experienced Hotel Supervisor. Apply via temorgent@yahoo.com
OW did Jannifer Onyeche die in a factory where she started working barely two weeks before her death? This is the puzzle her family wants resolved amid controversy over the cause of her death. The company claims she was electrocuted, but the autopsy report said she died of asphyxia. Asphyxia is described as an extreme condition caused by lack of oxygen and excess carbon dioxide in the blood, produced by interference with respiration or insufficient oxygen in the air or suffocation. Jennifer, 17, died on July 24 at a juice-making factory in Alapere, near Ketu, a Lagos surburb. She was yet to collect her first monthly N12, 000 salary. The family told The Nation yesterday that the contradictory stories they were told by the management of the factory and the "shabby manner" the Alapere Police Division handled the case showed that there are still mysteries to be unravelled. During a visit to the family’s Solomon Street, Alapere home, the Oynyeches expressed disappointment at the way the police were handling the matter. They accused the police of not allowing them see their daughter until one week after her death. Thus, they suspected a conspiracy between the police and the company. The mother, Mrs Joyce Onyeche, said that on that fateful day, four young women knocked on her door at 4.40 pm, explaining: "When I
• The late Jennifer By Precious Igbonwelundu
opened the door, they told me that my daughter had suffered a serious electric shock. I followed them with one of our neighbours. "When we got there, I did not see the four ladies again. I saw the secretary and asked for my daughter. I was told she had been taken to the General Hospital, Gbagada. Immediately, my neighbour and I went to the hospital, searched everywhere, including the children's ward; my daughter was nowhere there. Then I called to tell my husband who suggested that we should take the search to the General Hospital Ikeja and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). We still did not find her." Frustrated by the fruitlessness of their search, the couple made to return home. Along the way, they went back to the company's premises, from where they were led to Fine Day Hospital. "At the hospital," the woman said, "I sighted an ambulance outside the hospital with two policemen. It did not occur to me my daughter could be there because they told me she was still alive. A doctor asked, “Why are you just coming now?” My neighbour replied
• The company’s premises ... yesterday
‘They accused the police of not allowing them see their daughter until one week after her death. Thus, they suspected a conspiracy between the police and the company that we were not told she was there; then I knew something was wrong. I cried and asked them to open the ambulance for me to see my daughter, but they refused. "Then, the policemen came and took us to his station, where my neighbour was forced to sign some papers, despite his insistence on waiting for my husband. I was crying outside. The ambulance disappeared, so we were not allowed to see her body. People around there suspected a foul play. My husband came and demanded to see Jennifer. Some policemen said she had been taken to a mortuary and that my neighbour (her brother) had signed the papers. They said they would take us to the mortuary to see her." The late teenager's sister, Nke Olanite said: "I went with my brother (deceased's father)
to the police station the next day, but the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) said he would not take us to the mortuary because he needed to get a coroner’s report from the court for autopsy. We were not satisfied with his explanation and so, we wrote to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti. "The SCID officers took us to the factory for investigation and it was then that we were allowed to see Jennifer, a week after her death. Some said Jennifer might have fallen; some said they heard a loud cry. Another story said the machine she was operating shocked her. They said from the bruises she sustained on her finger and ear, she possibly did not switch off the machine before starting it. When we asked for the autopsy, the IPO only wrote the report on a paper for us." Contrary to the claim by the
factory’s management that Jennifer might have died from electrocution, the report by Dr O.O. Lawal of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Pathology Department said her death was caused by asphyxia. Although Jennifer was buried on August 7 in Delta State, the family has urged the government to ensure that justice prevails. Her father, Friday Onyeche, who acknowledged that the factory's owner had visited the family and also gave them N150, 000 for her burial, said they were still in shock over her death. "My daughter was an intelligent and very friendly girl. She was the prefect in the school where she graduated from. She wrote this last university admission examination and was awaiting admission; that was why she took up the job. If only I had stopped her from that work…! "Some officials of the Lagos State Government (Public Advice Centre) came here but because we were afraid of the police, we told them we didn’t want any case. But now, we know better. Let them assist us get justice done."
Police adopt robots to detect bombs
H
UNDREDS of Lagosians gathered yesterday on the parade ground of the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos to catch a glimpse of the new robots that will assist anti-bomb policemen. The robots were being remotely controlled by some officers from the Police AntiBomb Unit. They gathered explosives from a supposed crime scene and put same into detonating baskets. The police officers carried out the display to showcase the knowledge they acquired from their recent Basic Explosive Ordinance Device Course. It was the Course 16A graduation ceremony. The EOD (Anti-Bomb) Commander, Abdulmajid Ali, a Commissioner (CP), said the essence of the exercise was to protect human lives and strengthen security. Ali told the graduands that the course conferred on them a new status as Anti-Bomb Technicians and Investigators as well as qualifies them in handling explosives, with versed knowledge in Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs).
By Ebele Boniface
He said there were challenging tasks ahead, reminding them that as professionals, they would be called upon to offer solutions, adding that they could not afford to fail. The commissioner the command had been networking with police commands, Joint Task Forces across the nation and had painstakingly investigated and uncovered clandestine plots to cause mayhem at some strategic places across the country, where large caches of explosives. He urged Nigerians to support the command with useful information, especially whenever strange objects are found. The Assistant InspectorGeneral (AIG) Zone II, Mamman Tsafe, who represented the Inspector General (IGP) Muhammed Abubakar, said the impact of the EOD unit "will now be fully felt." Tsafe said, "We are not saying that the equipment are enough, but the judicious utilisation of the available equipment will go a long way in solving problems of terrorism in the country."
• L-R: Assistant Commander (Operations), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lagos State, Elizabeth Akinde; Coordinator, Special Marshal & Partnership, George Babatunde Benson; Commander Charles Akpabio, and Ikotun Unit Commander, Chiwendu Iwuoha ... at the monthly meeting for performance review hosted by the unit. PHOTO: ADEJO DAVID
I
Crisis rocks Ondo community
NDIGENES and residents of Irun Akoko in Akoko North West Local Government Area of Ondo State, have urged Governor Olusegun Mimiko to intervene in the crisis rocking the community. They implored the governor to call some trouble makers to order. A community leader, who pleaded anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the community had been thrown into confusion since the demise of its monarch in 2011, when a sec-
tion of the town decided to break away and form another community. "It is unheard-of that the people of a community that has existed for centuries will suddenly wake up one day and take up arms against one another. These people are determined to cause trouble in this town if they are not immediately called to order," he said. A youth leader, Ige Osho, alleged that a prominent woman leader of the Labour Party (LP) in the town was using her in-
fluence to cause disaffection among the people. He said the woman had boasted that she would ensure that the government splits the town into two. In June, it took police intervention to prevent a total breakdown of peace and order in the town during a ceremony held to start the new yam season. A fresh meeting called by the Office of the Deputy Governor to resolve the crisis failed to hold last Saturday because the other party refused to attend.