A Man Identified As Joshua, After Setting Wife And Children on Fire is on the run

A man simply identified as Joshua is on the run after setting his wife, son and daughter on fire in Ogun State.

The incident which occurred on Thursday was said to be as a result of a dispute over the sale of the property they lived in.

The suspect poured petrol on his wife, their daughter and his seven-year-old son, Samson, while they slept. He then proceeded to set fire on them.

The wife, 43-year-old Gbemisola Edward and their 11-year-old daughter died in hospital as a result of severe burns. Meanwhile Gbemisola’s son, Joshua Babatunde, managed to escape.

Speaking to Punch, Joshua Babatunde narrated the incident stating that his step-father wanted to his deceased mother to sell their three-bedroom apartment, but she refused.

“It was the scream of my mother that woke me up. Dolapo and Samson were also set ablaze. I wanted to put out the fire when my stepfather poured petrol on me as well. Before he returned with matches, I managed to escape and reported at the Ifo Police Station.

“He was working with a factory but was sacked some months ago. He then told my mother to sell the house so that he could use the money to start a business. But my mother said she would never sell the house she struggled to build.

“We moved into the house in January. The following month, he and Samson started living with us. It was a woman at our former residence in Iyana Ipaja (Lagos State) that bore Samson for him. He used to beat mum while we were in Iyana Ipaja.”

The brother to the deceased, Wale, confirmed that his sister suffered physical abuse in her marriage.

He noted that she confided in him that her now-fugitive husband had been threatening to kill her.

“When he knew my sister had built a house, he went there to reconcile with her. She insisted that they needed to go to the registry which they did in February. I visited my sister two weeks ago. She said her husband had been threatening her again and that she had told him to leave by the end of August.”

The Ogun State Police Command’s acting spokesperson, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed the incident.

He stated that the command had launched a manhunt for the killer husband.

Joshua’s 7-year-old son, Samson, who has burns in the head, hands and legs, is still responding to treatment.