Sam Kaye
A woman in her 70’s and four of her grand children have lost their lives in a domestic fire incident which engulfed their house while
sleeping in the outskirts of the Borno state Capital Maiduguri.
The elderly woman Yamai who lives in Kofa community not far from Bintu suga
in the outskirts of Maiduguri with seven of her grandkids, had
informed one of the tiny tots to put on the coil to protect them against mosquitoes which she
did and went out later.
Her niece Fatima Mustapha who is the chairperson of the Nawoj in the state told this reporter that out of the seven grand kids living with her some escaped
the fire as they were not in but those who died with her have ages ranging from
two, four, six and thirteen years.
“We believe that after a while the mosquito coil mistakenly engulfed the rug of the room where Yamai as she is popularly called stayed and spread to
the entire house. This is because there was no other source of fire in the house at that time of the night other than the coil.
“In the commotion, it became too late to escape because the tiny tots were afraid of the smoke so they all crept back to the old woman and stayed put till the fire engulfed all of them after the roof caved in
on them.” Said Fati
Narrating the incident further, Fatima who is the Nawoj Chairperson posited that her late Aunty Yamai could not move around easily which is why she was caught up and could not escape with the kids outside her house.
Sadly she just layed down and waited for death to come when the roof caved in on them in the house.
She has since been buried according to islamic rites and the third day prayer done on wednesday.
Hundreds of sympathisers thronged the residence of the deceased and
wept openly on seeing the charred bodies of the four kids before they were prepared for burial.
Yamai is survived by five children, nephews and nieces such as the NAWOJ Chairperson and the former President of the Old students
association of the Federal Government College Maiduguri, Suleiman
Dikwa, 12 grand children and a multitude of extended family members.
