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| The house | credits: Olaleye Aluko |
A three-year-old
boy, Basit Adewole, was burnt to death in the Iwaya, Yaba area of Lagos
after two women, who were cooking, mistakenly poured hot oil on his
body.
The women, and
their host, identified only as Yemisi, had been arrested by the Sabo
Police Division, where the matter was reported.
PUNCH Metro
learnt that on the afternoon of Saturday, the women came to Audu Baale
Street, Iwaya, to see Yemisi, who was celebrating her birthday.
It was gathered that the women, who did not meet Yemisi at home, started cooking in the room. Adewole and other toddlers in the house were said to be playing in the corridor.
It was learnt
that the pot, however, caught fire, and the women quickly threw out the
oil and the pot. The hot oil, however, spilled on the boy, and he was
set ablaze.
Relatives and
neighbours were said to have rushed to the scene, and taken the boy to a
hospital. He reportedly died the following day.
It was learnt
that the police thereafter came to arrest Yemisi and her two friends,
while a man, Lateef, who owned the apartment, was said to have gone into
hiding.
When PUNCH Metro
visited the apartment, Adewole’s relative, who identified himself
simply as Kehinde, said the boy’s life could have been saved if the
women did not close the door of their room as if nothing happened.
He added that
the government hospital, where Adewole was rushed to, did not attend to
him because workers were on strike, noting that the boy later died in a
private hospital in the area.
He said:
“The women do
not stay in this house. They are friends to Yemisi, whose boyfriend,
Lateef, lives here. The boyfriend, Lateef, has not showed up since the
incident occurred. On that afternoon, Yemisi brought the women to
celebrate her birthday with her. She gave them the key to Lateef’s
apartment.
While the two
were cooking in the room, the pot caught fire and they threw it out
without minding the children in the corridor. Basit was burnt in the
process. The women went inside and shut their door.
If they had
rushed out with water immediately, the harm would have been minimal, and
the boy might have survived. When we took the boy to a government
hospital, they rejected him because they were on strike. We then brought
him to a private hospital in Yaba, where he later died.”
A resident,
identified only as Mama Bolu, said it was a bottle of gum in Lateef’s
room ─ used for printing works ─ which caught fire. She added that the
women were careless in putting out the fire.
She said:
“The boy’s
mother is sad at the moment. The women did not handle the fire in a
matured manner, and it has landed them in trouble. The boy was playing
with other little children in the corridor. His father just went outside
briefly to put on their generator.
The women were
frying something. They mistakenly flung the substance on the boy. The
boy’s body was engulfed in fire immediately.”
PUNCH Metro
learnt that Adewole, who was just promoted to Nursery 1 in school, was
the only child of his parents. He was buried on Sunday according to
Islamic rites.
The Lagos State
Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Patricia Amadin, confirmed the
incident. She added that the police were still searching for the runaway
boyfriend, while the two women were in custody.
She said, “The women have been arrested and detained.
“Efforts are on to apprehend the fleeing boyfriend. Meanwhile, investigations are ongoing into the matter.”
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