Ola Ajayi – Ibadan

The father of three children who died in an inferno that gutted their apartment at the wee hour on Friday said he was at Celestial Christian Church of God for a vigil when the incident happened.

Tunde Emmanuel, a 44-year-old father and his wife who operates a beer parlour were not around when the mystery fire gutted their apartment.

The three siblings were locked inside by their parents when an electric spark ignited the fire.

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Describing the fire outbreak and death of his three children as an act of God, noted that it was not the first time the children would sleep alone.

Emmanuel, who was being interrogated by the police as of the time of filing this report, said, “Let’s just hand everything over to God. Even my neighbours could not say something cogent on how it happened. I don’t understand them”.

“The children used to sleep at home alone. I’m not always around. I attend the Celestial Christian Church of God. I went for a programme that night; it was a vigil.”

“My wife went to the place where she sells beer in a store owned by her pastor. I have been at Sanyo Police Station since the incident happened. The police are interrogating me.”

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The Deputy Director, Oyo State Fire Service, Mr. Moshood Adewuyi, said, “The cause of the outbreak was an electrical surge from appliances that were put on till power was restored”.

“The family lives in a room and a parlour. The fire started from the sitting room. The alternative door where the children could have used to escape had been blocked with their belongings.

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