Police Launch Manhunt for Man who Set his Wife and Children Ablaze over Sale of Apartment

The Ogun State Police command has launched a manhunt for a man who allegedly killed his wife Gbemisola Edward, 43, and her daughter, Dolapo, 11 after pouring petrol on them and setting them ablaze.

PUNCH reports that the killer husband, Joshua, set Gbemisola, Dolapo, and his 7-year-old son, Samson on fire after a disagreement between him and his wife.

The tragic incident happened on Thursday on Augustine Street, Ire Akari Estate, in the Ifo Local Government Area, Ogun State

According to Gbemisola’s 16-year-old son, Babatunde, who escaped the attack, his stepfather (Joshua) had wanted his mother to sell their three-bedroom apartment, but she refused.

Babatunde said:

It was the scream of my mother that woke me up. Dolapo and Samson were also set ablaze. I wanted to put out the fire when my stepfather poured petrol on me as well. Before he returned with matches, I managed to escape and reported at the Ifo Police Station.

He was working with a factory but was sacked some months ago. He then told my mother to sell the house so that he could use the money to start a business. But my mother said she would never sell the house she struggled to build.

We moved into the house in January. The following month, he and Samson started living with us. It was a woman at our former residence in Iyana Ipaja (Lagos State) that bore Samson for him. He used to beat mum while we were in Iyana Ipaja.

Joshua fled immediately the incident happened, while the victims were admitted to Aron Hospital, a private facility in the area.

The Ogun State Police Command’s acting spokesperson, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, who confirmed the report said:

We learnt the man and his wife had a quarrel over the ownership of the house they lived in. While the family was asleep, the man poured patrol on the living room and set it ablaze. As a result, the woman and the two children suffered first degree burns. The Commissioner of Police has ordered that the suspect be fished out. He can only run, he cannot hide.

The Managing Director, Aron Hospital, Dr. Kayode Ayoola, said that Dolapo died 10 minutes after she got to the hospital, while Gbemisola gave up the ghost the following day (Friday).

“The boy’s (Samson, who has burns in the head, hands and legs) condition is relatively okay but nobody is ready to take care of him,” Ayoola said.

Gbemisola’s brother, Wale, also confirmed that Joshua had always abused his sister, and that forced her to relocate from Iyana Ipaja to Ifo, but they reconciled in February after he pleaded with her.

“Their relationship had been fraught with quarrels since when he was living with my sister in our house at Iyana Ipaja. There was a time he threatened to kill her with a machete. He stole her money and fled.

When he knew my sister had built a house, he went there to reconcile with her. She insisted that they needed to go to the registry which they did in February. I visited my sister two weeks ago. She said her husband had been threatening her again and that she had told him to leave by the end of August.

It was on Thursday afternoon that I got a call that he set her and the children ablaze,” Wale said.

Photo Credit: Afeez Hanafi/PUNCH