The Rivers State Police Command has confirmed the death of two children in a fire that gutted a makeshift residential building behind Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic on Sunday and has opened an investigation into the incident.
Police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko said that the mother of the victims is currently being questioned following allegations that she locked her four children inside before leaving at night. She said two of the children, aged between five and nine, were burnt to death in the inferno. Iringe-Koko cautioned residents against leaving minors unattended and assured that the findings of the investigation would be made public.
Eyewitnesses recounted that two of the children were awake and tried desperately to save their younger siblings but were forced back by the intense heat. They described how the fire ignited and spread rapidly, destroying the belongings of all 27 families who lived in the structure.
It was further learnt that neighbours, who had reportedly been in previous disputes with the victims’ mother, allegedly did not intervene and later lost their own property as the fire consumed the entire building.
