One Joshua Edward has allegedly set his entire family ablaze over an unsettled rift with his wife, Gbemisola Edward.
Joshua reportedly poured petrol on his 43-year-old wife, Gbemisola Edward, their 11-year-old daughter, Dolapo and their seven-year-old son, Samson, and set them ablaze on Thursday on Augustine Street, Ire Akari Estate, in the Ifo Local Government Area, Ogun State.
Gbemisola’s son, Joshua Babatunde, 16, who narrowly escaped, said his stepfather had wanted his mother to sell their three-bedroomed apartment, but she refused.
He said: “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.”
Confirming the incident, the Ogun State Police Command’s acting spokesperson, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspect fled the scene immediately.
“The command has launched a manhunt for the killer husband. 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,” Oyeyemi said.