An elderly woman and her three children, including a one-month-old baby, were burnt to death inside their apartment in the Nkangbe area of Minna, the Niger state capital today June 10.

According to reports, the woman lived with her hubby and his other wife, Fati, inside the building. In the night, an intense fire engulfed the building, burning her and her children to death while the second wife and her two children suffered serious burns.

A neighbor who spoke on the incident, said the husband of both women usually stayed in Abuja where he worked and returned home most weekends. The neighbor said at about 11pm, the women cried for help after they noticed the intense fire in their home. The men of the fire service responded to the distress call made to them but were seriously hindered by the jammed doors and window burglaries in the home. The cause of the fire is yet unknown.

“We tried as much as we could but we couldn’t get inside. With the help of the fire service, we rescued the second wife through the window and she was wounded and had some burns. When we were able to get inside as men of the fire service tried their best to rescue the second wife and her children but before we could get inside their room, they were already burnt.” a neighbor said.

One of the men of the fire service said

“There were four casualties and the cause of the fire is not known. The people here say their transformer has been spoilt and they said the people in the house did not put on the generator that night. Everything in the house was burnt down, nothing could be salvaged. It is very unfortunate. We are awaiting the arrival of our Controller to come and access the house.”