A grandmother, identified as lforiti, has allegedly set her son, wife, and two grandchildren ablaze in Apomu community, Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Sources said that the grandmother, who resides with her son in the same house, had complained that they starved her of food.
It was gathered that she reportedly set the house ablaze while the family members were asleep, killing three of them, including her son, Victor; wife, Racheal, and one of the grandchildren, while the other child is in critical condition at the Federal Medical Centre FMC, Owo.
Narrating the sad incident to newsmen in Akure, an eyewitness, Korede Michael, said,
“We saw the house on fire around 2:00 am at the weekend and had to break the window to rescue everyone in the house.
“The woman, her son, Victor Oloro; wife, Rachael; and children, Toluwani and Blessing, were all in the house when the woman set it on fire. She got some dry palm fronds and the little petrol her son kept in a gallon (for generator), spread it around the house and then put fire to it.”
“I was the first person to notice the fire and jumped into the house before other members of the community joined me in rescuing them.
“We got a vehicle immediately to transport them to the government hospital in Akure.
“When we got to Akure (UNIMED annex), the doctors and nurses rejected the patients, saying they could not take care of them due to the degree of the burn, and advised that we take them to the Federal Medical Center in Owo.
“Unfortunately, we lost the last grandchild, who was just two and a half years old, immediately we got to Owo.
“The son and his wife, also, gave up the ghost while the only grandchild left is in a critical condition.”
Korede said that the suspect was not in any way affected by the fire.
He added,
“The children could not send the woman out of the house when she started behaving strangely because it was built by her late husband.”
Police sources said that the suspect confessed that she burnt her son and his family because they were starving her of food.
The state police spokesperson, Funmi Odunlami, while confirming the incident to our correspondent said the case is now with the State Criminal Investigation Division.