A nine-year-old child has died while four others were hospitalised after a man identified as Nicodemus Ajaku set his neighbour’s house on fire in Adamawa State.
The five victims, all children of one Daniel Cha’ama, were asleep in their room when the incident took place in Mubi Local Government Area of the state.
Ajaku was alleged to have set the house ablaze due to a land dispute with Cha’ama.
Ajaku, who hails from Vimtim village in Mubi North LGA, was said to have mistakenly targeted the children’s room instead of Cha’ama’s, whom he had intended to harm.
The fire incident resulted in the death of nine-year-old Chimba Daniel, while the other children — Dida Daniel, Isaac Daniel, Nglacha Daniel, and Emmanuel Hyeldinga — sustained severe burns.
Chimba was said to have died due to the injuries sustained while being transported to the Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital in Yola for treatment.
NewsNGR gathered that Ajaku fled the village immediately after committing the crime and has remained at large.
The dispute between Ajaku and Cha’ama had reportedly led to two court appearances before it escalated.
The Adamawa State Police Command, through its Public Relations Officer, SP Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje, has vowed to track down and prosecute the suspect.
Speaking to NewsNGR, Yahaya said Ajaku “poured some substance believed to be petrol at a door entrance of a room, in a village Vimtim under the Mubi North Local Government. Unfortunately, he escaped to an unknown destination. So, about five were rescued through the window, having suffered flames from the fire. They were rushed to Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital in Yola. One died while four are responding to treatment.
“Efforts are on top gear to trace the perpetrator, arrest him, and bring him to face the full wrath of the law.
“Previously, there was an issue of land dispute, but whatever the case, when he is apprehended, he will tell his side of the story. As it is now, the command is only interested in tracing him, to bring him to face the full wrath of the law.
“Whatever dispute you have with somebody, it doesn’t warrant you to go and set the person’s house ablaze. It is an attempt to commit culpable homicide. That’s notwithstanding, we will get him because all effort is put in place to dictate his location and arrest him.”