A pall of grief descended on Oremerin Street, Ibafo, Ogun State, on Monday March 9, 2015, when two children were burnt to death in an early morning fire outbreak.
A building and six shops were also razed.
The incident was linked to a woman who operates a black market fuel depot in her residence.
The woman according to sources had wanted to prepare meal for her ailing child called Ayo, when she mistakenly lighted a stove close to fuel containers.
The fire raged for several hours as residents tried fruitlessly to contain it.
A one- year- old baby, Nifemi, according to sources was burnt beyond recognition while another kid who initially survived with burns died two days after the incident.
A resident who asked not to be named said: “The incident occurred in the early hours of the day. The woman had been selling petrol in her residence for sometime now. As a matter of fact, she has a store at the back of the building where she keeps fuel stored in plastic containers. She might have forgotten that the stove she wanted to light was not too far from fuel containers when she lighted a stove that eventually ignited the fire.
“A one-year-old baby called Nifemi who was burnt to death was left in the care of a neighbour by his mother who works in a public property development company somewhere in Isheri, Ogun State. Fruitless efforts were made by neighbours to evacuate the baby who was still sleeping when the fire broke out. A thick smoke had covered the room where the baby slept before she burnt beyond recognition. It took men of the fire service several hours before they could put out the fire,” he added.
Property worth millions of naira including personal belongings of residents and shop owners were also destroyed in the fire incident.
It was said that the woman who allegedly caused the fire outbreak has since fled following an outrage that trailed the incident.
A man who lost his personal belongings to the fire incident but asked not to be named explained that some concerned residents had reported the activities of the suspect at the Ibafo Police Division without any meaningful action taken by the police to checkmate the woman from continuing with the sale of petrol in her apartment.
The spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi confirmed the incident.
He said: “The incident truly happened but only one child said to be one year old died. Unconfirmed information gathered during preliminary investigation indicated that one of the children of the late owner of the building who kept petrol in her apartment was responsible for the fire outbreak.”
Adejobi added that nobody has volunteered information to the police in order to unravel the mystery behind the incident.