CP Orders Probe As Family Loses 2 Children In Mystery Fire

Disturbed by circumstances surrounding the death of two children of same parents roasted by mystery fire in Eket local government area of Akwa Ibom State, the commissioner of police (CP), Mr Olatoye Durosinmi, has ordered “diligent but discreet investigations into the immediate and remote causes of the sad incident.”

The CP, who spoke through the police command’s public relations officer, SP Odiko Macdon yesterday said, “The CP is very miffed over the sad incident, and has accordingly ordered for a full scale investigation with a view to unraveling the remote and immediate causes of the incident, and to bring whoever is, or are involved to book.”

The police chief, who said the team of investigators had since swung into action, assured that he would stop at nothing in getting to the roots of the matter, and warned perpetrators of violence that relevant sections of the law would be invoked to ensure justice was served against offenders.

A yet-to -be-established source of the fire in a building had burnt two children aged three and six respectively, to death at Udo Imuk street in  Eket LGA, having been locked inside a room by their absentee parents.

Neighbours including one Edikan Nseabasi, who spoke to LEADERSHIP, recalled that “the battle to rescue the kids was hampered by the parents’ decision to lock them inside, before leaving the one room apartment.”

However, the distraught father of the deceased children, Prince Ekpo, from Nsit Ubium LGA, lamented the loss of their only children in one fell swoop, wondering why his room was the only one affected by the inferno that consumed his two children.

 “I left my phone in the room to take injection so they could use the phone torch to see, while  hoping to return soon after the injection because my wife had earlier went out to buy something.

“I came back and saw people crowded and discovered my two children were burnt beyond recognition, and we don’t know the source of the fire,” he recalled.

In the same vein, joint owners of the building, Godwin Peter and sibling Bright Udo Imuk, who spoke separately feigned ignorance regarding the source of the fire.

 “We didn’t notice when the fire started, we only heard an explosive sound and while going to check, fire had gutted the room and spread to our rooms, and parlour. We tried to remove our properties, but serious damages had been done already,” he said.