Six young men accused of smoking Indian hemp and gambling have been set ablaze in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, by a house owner in their area.
We learnt that the landlord, identified as Agba, in Ago-Oko area of the town where the incident occurred, had warned the boys on several occasions to desist from their acts, warnings they ignored.
However, on Tuesday night, the boys engaged in their acts in their regular building which infuriated Agba, their neighbour.The landlord subsequently poured a keg of petrol, through his window on the first floor of a storey building, on the boys.The already lighted Indian hemp was flamed by the petrol causing a major fire that burnt the boys causing severe injury. The victims were later rushed to a state hospital where they are currently receiving treatment.
The victims are Saburi Seteolu, Raheem Bello, Tunde Adesanya, Suleiman Adebesin, Azeez Alabi, and Kola Sodehinde.The landlord, a commercial cab driver in the town, has been arrested as confirmed by the spokesperson of the Ogun State Police Command, Muyiwa Adejobi.
Mr. Adejobi said the incident occurred late on Tuesday.“Information available to us is that the suspect had an argument with the youths before he poured PMS on them in Ago-Oko area.
“For now, we cannot ascertain other circumstances that led to the incident but we have the suspect in our custody and we are working hard to untie what led to it,” he said.
The spokesman said Ogun Police Commissioner, Ikemefuna Okoye, had ordered a comprehensive investigation into the matter.He said the suspect would be charged to court as soon as investigation into the matter was concluded.
He also warned youth in the area not to engage in any reprisal attack, saying that could disrupt peace in the area.
When our correspondent visited the hospital, the victims were seen with various degrees of severe burns.