Why have I not died?

WHAT am I still doing on earth? Why has death not taken me away? I have lost all I worked for in my life”.

With these words, Alhaji Abdul Raheem Aminu, a businessman, yesterday bemoaned the death of his three daughters and loss of his property in a fire in Isolo, Lagos, on Friday.

He wondered why God had not taken his life despite ‘my wish for death’.

His two daughters, Feranmi, 7, Pelumi, 5 and a step-daughter, Christiana Adebayo, 12 died in the fire which gutted a section of some lock-up shops at Rainbow Avenue, Jakande Estate, Isolo, Lagos.

Some parts of the building were also damaged.

Some family members, who came to sympathise with him, blamed the police for the tragedy. The fire, they said, was sparked when a L300 bus, laden with jerrycans of petrol, being chased by the police rammed into a stationary bus parked beside the road.

The ensuing fire, they said, engulfed three cars, more than 10 shops and a building.

Speaking with The Nation on his sick bed at St Jacob Hospital in Ejigbo, Aminu, in tears, said he owns the building gutted by fire.

His wife, Tunrayo, also on sick bed, could barely speak, she wept uncontrollably.

On why the children slept inside the shop, Aminu said the place is not a shop, rather a room behind the shop.

“My wife uses three shops in that building, I own the building; behind the third shop is a small room where they sleep in case they don’t feel like coming to the other apartment not quite far from that place,” he said.

According to him, the children and his wife have been sleeping in the room behind the shop for seven years.

“They have a separate place -bathroom and rest room – different from that of the tenants in the house. It is unfortunate that this happened. Oh my God,” he said.

A family member, who led our correspondent to the scene, said Mrs Aminu sells grocery and runs a hair dressing salon in the building.

There is a sign board, GOD WITH ME SALON at the entrance of one of her shops. Though burnt, the printing is still legible. It has two chambers with heavy protectors at the entrance. The first chamber was used for business; the second chamber, residential.

Beside it is a small room for bath and rest room. The shop led to the room. There is a door connecting the room with the compound of the residential part.

The younger Aminu, otherwise called Alfa said in case they did not want to open the shop for business, the other exit could be used.

He said, a burnt Toyota Pickup with Lagos number-plate AKD 791 XJ, seen on the premises, was brought for repair.

“The driver of this pickup has paid part of the charges for repair only for the unfortunate incident to occur. What will he tell the owner? Same thing goes for the commercial bus that the fuel-loaded vehicle collided with, it was also brought for repair,” he said.

He urged the police to seek way of arresting offenders instead “of these ceaseless chasing and sometimes shooting indiscriminately. The casualties could have been worse than what we see.”

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