A nine-year old boy, Destiny, and his younger sister, Babygril Ikeh were yesterday burnt to death following a fire out break that started from a burnt-out candle set by their mother, Mrs Ifeoma Ikeh, 32.
The incident, occurred behind Burning Bush Church, along Aker Road, Rumuolumeni, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Port Harcourt. The fire started at about 1.30am.
An eye witness and a neighbour, Mr. Oga Audu, told The Tide that the fire woke them up at about 2.00am, at which time, the makeshift accommodation of the Ikehs had already been burnt to ashes.
Audu explained that neighbours merely succeeded in stopping the fire from spreading to other buildings.
“In the morning, about 7.00am, while we were wondering where Ifeoma was, she arrived from outside. It was from her we heard that she had left the house the previous night leaving a candle on in the house”, he said.
He confirmed that Ifeoma’s second son, aged six, miraculously escaped from the house during the incident.
As at press time, the burnt remains of the two children were still in various sections of the building.
Efforts to reach Ifeoma and the surviving son proved abortive as the police in Rumuolumeni said they were still in their custody as investigation was on-going.
Meanwhile, The Tide’s investigation revealed that Ifeoma is a widow from Owerri, Imo State. Her husband died three years ago in a car accident.
Some neighbours, who spoke to The Tide on condition of anonymity, said Ifeoma has been known to lock her children inside the house at night and go out for prostitution.
They added that she lost her last child three months ago shortly after delivery.
As at the time of filing this report, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Muhammad’s only response to several calls and SMS was ‘I’will get back to you”.