Customs officer, wife, four children die in midnight fire in Osun

A Customs officer, Tijani Kabiru, his wife, and four children have d!ed in a fire accident that occured at about 2am on Monday, December 2, in their residence in the Olowopoku area of Ede, Osun State.

According to eyewitness account,firefighters from the Ede Fire Station were alerted after smoke was detected, but the house had been badly damaged before the fire could be subdued.

He said, “I can’t say when the fire started, but we observed smoke there at about 3am.

“The response time of the firemen was not bad, but the house had been badly affected before the fire could be subdued. Kabiru, his wife, and four children were already burnt to death. But one of the children escaped.”

The Osun State Fire Service spokesperson, Ibraheem Adekunle, confirmed the incident, in a statement signed by the Director of the Service, Olaniyi Alimi, disclosing that a lone survivor, a 13-year-old boy, miraculously escaped the blaze.

He added that the remains of the deceased were handed over to officers from the A’ Division of the Nigeria Police Force.

The statement read, “We were informed of the incident via a distress call to our emergency number 08030808254 at 3:21 a.m. Our team from Ede Zonal Command proceeded to the scene, with a backup team joining from the Fire Service Headquarters in Abere.

“The address of the fire incident is Customs Tijani Kabiru Road, Akankan Area, Ede North LG. The street was named after the deceased, who was a Customs officer from the Oyo/Osun Command.

“Mr. Tijani Kabiru, reported to be in his late 40s, and his wife, said to be in her early 40s, lost their lives alongside four of their children—three boys and a girl—aged between three nd 10 years. The estimated loss from the inferno is around N200 million, while property worth N500 million was saved.”