Investigation into the death of five persons , among them a three-month-old baby, whose lifeless bodies were Monday discovered inside a restaurant in Allen Avenue, Ikeja area of Lagos, showed that they died of suffocation. This is contrary to report that they were killed by smoke from a power generating set.

The deceased, reportedly met their unprepared end following their decision to sleep in the restaurant,owing to Sunday’s heavy down pour. Surprisingly, they were discovered to be from neighboring Benin Republic. They were reportedly brought from their country to work as sales girls by owner of the restaurant.

Crime Alert gathered that two other sale’s girls, both Nigerians , who also slept in the restaurant ,were found in an unconscious state. Their fate still hung in the balance as they were said to be in critical conditions at a private hospital in Alausa area of Ikeja.

•Yakubu Alkali, CP, Lagos State

Policemen from Area F, Ikeja, visited the scene and later took both the owner of the restaurant and the corpses to their station. During preliminary investigation, she reportedly expressed shock on realizing that the girls slept in the shop, explaining that she only instructed them to cook outside the restaurant when they informed her that the restaurant was flooded.

According to her, she became suspicious the next day after calling the girls severally on the phone without response. She then rushed to the restaurant only to see them dead. Their remains, according to police operatives, had been deposited at the Lagos State University Hospital mortuary.