It's been weeks since the fire disaster
that wiped out five children of Mr. & Mrs. Augustine Ikwuagwu on
Comfort Oboh Street, Kirikiri Town, Lagos, but its bitter memory still
lingers. Indeed, the tragedy has been a nightmare to the couple. When
Saturday Sun met with the couple recently, pain and agony have
overwhelmed them, as they recounted their loss.
Speaking amid tears, Mrs Margaret Ikwuagwu, said her fine kids,
Chukwuemeka (13), Ifeanyichukwu (10), Bright (8), Joy (6) and Victoria
(4) were sleeping in the house when the incident started at 10pm. She
said that all efforts to rescue the children failed. “I asked my
children to go and sleep in the room while I was preparing to close shop
for the day.
Then, shortly, someone ran to tell me that our house was on fire. I
abandoned everything I was doing and ran down to the house. When I got
there, the fire had already covered the whole place and I could not
enter my room to rescue my children,” she said. Mrs Ikwuagwu explained
that she cried for help, but no one came to her aid. “When I got there, I
met a mammoth. My co-tenants were busy removing their children and
property.
They started the rescue as soon as the fire broke out, but never
bothered to inform me that our house was on fire. I tried to rescue our
children, but I could not because the fire had covered our room. I heard
the voices of my children shouting. But could not save the situation. I
cried for help, but no one assisted me. “I forced myself inside the
room when I heard my children crying for help, with the hope that I
would bring out at least one or two, but I ended up being burnt by fire;
so I ran out.” The woman revealed that as she was shouting, her husband
arrived at the scene.
“When my husband arrived, we joined hands to rescue our children. He
pushed the door, but the fire was too much; he tried to force himself
through the window; yet he did not succeed. We called our children, but
they did not answer us. When we tried and saw that there was no hope
again, we fainted, having watched our five children, cash and other
property ruined by fire. We were rushed to the hospital immediately and
did not know what happened later,” she stated.
Mrs. Ikwuagwu stated that it was after some hours that she and her
husband recovered from the shock. “When we recovered, we were asked to
come to Kirikiri Police Station to make statement. Thereafter, we were
asked to come and take our children for burial. So, we went to bury them
at Trinity Cemetery, Olodi Apapa.” She revealed that before the fire
disaster, her family had planned to travel home on December 22 for
Christmas. “I do not know why this thing happened to us.
Why should our five children go like that? We were preparing to
travel home on December 22 for Christmas. Now here we are. Where do we
start and how far do I go from here? I know that it was not an ordinary
fire. But, however, God will take control of the whole thing,” she
lamented. Narrating what happened, Mr. Augustine Ikwuagwu, popularly
known as Osuofia, said that when he arrived he tried his best to rescue
the children, regretting that the fire had already taken over the entire
compound.
He said: “On December 12, I went to my wife’s shop and saw my
children sleeping and I asked my wife to take them home, which she did.
We did not lock the children inside the house, as people are saying,
rather. Our 12-year-old son, Chukwuemeka, took them home, and when the
fire started, no one cared to call us and as a result, our children got
burnt to death. We have three male and two female children and they died
same day.
As it is, I have no house, no property and no child. People are
saying that we locked the children inside the room and lighted a candle,
but I am telling you that we did not lock them inside and we did not
use candle at all; what we use was rechargeable lamp.” He also stated
that the cause of the fire is yet to be known. “We are still surprised
about how the fire started and up till this moment, we have not been
able to know the cause of the fire. But God has the answer,” he stated.
Mr. Ikwuagwu said the fact that they watched their five children suffer
and died in the fire was the worst thing that has happened to him and
his wife.
“I wanted to kill myself because I do not know where I am going from
here. I do not think, I can cope because my entire life struggles are
gone. After five children, we have decided not to bear children again.
But now, we are starting again,” he lamented. He stated that since the
incident, life has not been easy for his family, revealing that he and
his wife are still receiving treatment in the hospital. “It has not been
easy for us since then.
We have no child, shelter, clothes, money and property. Also, we have
not recovered from the shock. So, anyone who knows what it takes to
lose five children and everything should please assist us to come back
to life. My wife’s spirit has gone down; she has been thinking of how to
get another child,” Ikwuagwu lamented.
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