It was a sad Christmas day celebration for the Ofomata
family residing at Umuele Umudim, Nnewi, Anambra State as a fire
outbreak at their three-bedroom apartment roasted four of their
children- Chioma Ofomata, 6, Goodness& Mercy Ofomata who
were twins, 3, and Ifeoma, 2, to death.
According
to reports, the mother of the 4 girls had locked her children in
the house and had gone over to the community center to collect her
share of Christmas rice meant for widows in the community when the fire
started.
Residents in the area were not quick to notice the fire or hear
the cry for help from the children until they started seeing thick
smoke
coming from their apartment. By the time the door to their house was
broken down, only the charred remains of the four girls were found.
Their father, 57
year old Mr Ofoamata, a vulcanizer, said he was at his shop with his
two sons, Kosy, 8, and Ebuka, 5 when the incident happened. He said he
got to know of the unfortunate incident when edhe returned home at about
6pm and saw people gather at his compound with smoke coming from his
apartment. He said his wife never told him she was going out to collect
any rice.
While giving her account of what
happened, mrs Ofomata said she locked her children in their apartment so as to
restrict their movement and that the day of the incident wasn't the
first time she would lock them in. She denied claims that the rice she
went to collect was actually meant for widows
“The rice was meant for everybody, not widows alone. If you like go and
find out. I don’t know what caused the fire,” she said
The remains of the little children have been deposited at the mortuary.
Source: Sunnewsonline.com
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