By Ushang Ewa
The Cross River State command of the Nigerian Police Force says the mother of five year old twins killed in a fire incident on Tuesday is currently in their custody to prevent her from being lynched by angry neighbors.
The woman (unnamed) who sells fried beans cake commonly referred to as ‘akara’ and yam is alleged to have left her kids, Bishop and Ituobong at home with a candle serving as light in her room to meet her lover (not father of the twins) only to return and meet a burnt house and ashes of the kids.
The incident occurred at 9, Edem Okon Street near the second electrical transformer in Nyaghasang community of Calabar Municipal.
And, the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Mrs. Irene Ugbo told The Guardian that the police had to wade in to prevent a breakdown in law and order.
“The mother of the deceased is at the Divisional Police Office at Airport Road because we leant the people in the neighbourhood wanted to lynch her,” Ugbo, a Deputy Superintendent of Police said.
“We had to keep her in our custody because angry neighbours wanted to lynch her because of what happened. They blamed her that it was her fault that the children died in such a tragic manner because she went to sleep at her lover’s place.
“We are investigating the matter and hope to get to the root to avoid an escalation of the matter because we also learned that the man she slept in his place was attacked and his dog was brutally slaughtered by the angry mob,” she added.
A neighbor and victim, Mr. Daniel Udoh while narrating the incident to The Vanguard, blamed the mother of the twins for the incident which saw him lose everything
“Their mother made them tea and bread and left for her boyfriend’s house leaving a candlelight on the refrigerator and asked them to off the candle when they were done but they slept off.
“I started noticing smoke at about 1 am and before I could come out with my son my house was already in flames from the roof while the woman’s room was already engulfed in fire.
“We tried putting off the fire but it was very difficult because of the rubber ceiling (Polyvinyl Chloride Ceilings commonly referred to as PVC) which eventually escalated the fire that took over the entire compound. I had no choice than to leave the place, I didn’t come out with a pin, I lost everything in the fire,” he said.
It will be recalled that a fire started by a fallen electricity cable had led to the death of about a dozen people who were watching a football match in the same community in April, 2017.
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