Calamity befell Koko town in the Koko Local Government Area
of Kebbi State after a couple, Kehinde and Kehinde Sarafa, were burnt to death
in a fire that gutted their apart
The couple’s three children, Abdullahi (male, four years
old); Alimat (female, three years old) and Moriam (female, one year old), were
also reportedly burnt beyond recognition.
PUNCH Metro gathered from friends and family members of the
victims that Kehinde, aka Lasisi, had been living with his family in Sokoto
State, where he worked as a digital photo printer.
He was said to have moved to Koko, Kebbi State, after
securing appointment with a top-flight company.
Our correspondent learnt that after about four months of
shuttling from Sokoto where his family was, and Kebbi, the place of his new
job, he decided to relocate his wife and children to his two-bedroomed flat in
Koko.
The 38-year-old reportedly turned on his generator on Monday
and went to sleep with his family.
However, around 1.30am
on Tuesday when the electricity distribution company restored power,
there was said to have been an explosion in the meter, which resulted in the fire.
Lasisi’s elder brother, Tajudeen Abdulsalam, said residents
couldn’t save the victims due to the intensity of the inferno.
He said, “He was formerly based in Sokoto before he got a
job in Koko. On Sunday, he went to pick his family members in Sokoto to live
with him. He had been living alone in Koko until then. They had just spent one
day together in the house when the incident happened.
“He was probably trying to make them comfortable by turning
on the generator in the evening. I think he had not been using the generator
before then, and because of that, he did not detect that the generator and
regular electricity wires were not appropriately separated.
“By the time power was restored, he was asleep, but the
generator was still running. So, there might have been a jam between the
generator and the regular power, which resulted in the fire. By the time they
woke up, the flames had blocked their exit route. They cried for help, but
people could not gain access to the place.
“Their neighbours tried to force the door open and even
removed the windows, but it was all in vain, until the time they stopped
calling for help.”
He described the late Lasisi as “simple, kind, generous and
obedient.”
Abdulsalam said the victims were buried in the town in
accordance with Islamic rites, adding that the family could not identify the
corpses because they were burnt beyond recognition.
PUNCH Metro learnt that policemen from the Koko division
visited the scene after the case was reported to them.
Lasisi’s twin brother, Taiwo, said he spoke with him a few
hours to the incident without any foreboding.
“I spoke with him around 7.30pm that evening. He told me
that they still had some of their property in Sokoto. Even my wife spoke with
his wife, Kehinde, around 8.30pm the same evening. It was around 2.30am that
one of their neighbours called me to say there was a fire incident and they all
died. Only their apartment was affected. We are in shock because nobody
expected it,” he said.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Kehinde worked with Spectrum Digital
Lab in Sokoto from September 2015 to sometime in September 2016, when he
relocated to Koko.
A former co-worker and family friend, Bayode Oluwaseyi,
described him as a diligent man who went through a lot of difficulty before
having a breakthrough.
“He had been in the industry from the analogue to the
digital era, and he contributed a lot to the photo printing world. After all
the problems he went through before the breakthrough in September, it was
unfortunate this tragedy befell him and his family members,” he said.
Meanwhile, there has been an outpour of emotion from friends
and family members who paid tribute to his memory on his Facebook page.
One Afonja Adedolapo, said, “This is so sad! I can’t help
but wonder what life is even all about. A generation (died), in a day and at
the same time! Oh Jesus, may their souls rest in perfect peace and may Almighty
God forgive their shortcomings and grant them heaven.”
Another friend, Abolaji Kabeer, said, “We were together with
his family last Saturday. May your gentle souls rest in peace.”
The Kebbi State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP
Mustapha Suleiman, said the victims were killed by fire from a high power
voltage.
He said, “What happened was that the family was asleep when
power was restored. However, because it was high power voltage, there was an
electrical problem, which started the fire. All the family members were
killed.”ment.
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