Five members of the same family in Benin City were on Friday morning feared dead after they allegedly ate poisoned food or suffocated by fumes from a petrol generator.
The incident took place at house number 40, Otote Street, off Textile Mill Road in Ogida quarters, Benin City, the state capital.
Mrs Christy Igbinadolor who lives nearby told newsmen that she saw lights in the apartment of the victims at night but it was off that morning.
She said she became aware of the tragedy after a man came asking about her neighbours and she advised him to go to the house opposite hers and knock at the door which he did but raised an alarm which attracted everyone.
Another sympathiser, Mrs. Rachel Anyanwu, said the man who lost his children had lost his wife five days earlier and had relatives visiting in sympathy.
A resident of the neighbourhood, Mr. Felix Ejofor, said he joined in rushing some of the victims to Central Hospital Benin, after he heard voices wailing near the compound.
He said when he got there, he met policemen at the scene, pointing out that two of the dead children were already in their school uniforms at the time with a bowl of food near their lifeless bodies.
At the Central Hospital, the body of one of the victims was seen inside a van, as a man who identified himself as Solomon Omo-Osaro alleged that he saw four bodies brought into the hospital.
According to him, “I have patient here, it is an emergency, as I was about going out, I saw them rush in a woman and I noticed that the doctor was trying to revive her”
“I heard it was food poisoning and that they have to break into their apartment to get them out. I was told that somebody has been calling the family without any pick up”..
“The woman had to call a neighbor to see what was happening in their house, only to discover that there were bodies lying on the floor after they broke the main door down”
“I don’t actually know the number of persons involved but I saw them rushing four persons into the Central Hospital”, he said.
Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO) CSP Chidi Nwanbuzor, when contacted said the command was yet to get details of the incident.
