A 64-year-old man, Ojo Joseph, who was arrested for setting ablaze his five stepchildren in Ondo town, Ondo State, has blamed his action on temper.
Ogun
Joseph, who was paraded before journalists on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at Ondo State Police Command headquarters, Akure, said he got angry because his wife and her children ganged up to beat him in his house.
“On that day (last Friday) around 7pm, I had a quarrel with my wife and those children joined my wife to beat me up; I was even injured. That was how they were doing whenever we quarreled. So, after they had all slept, out of anger, I went to get petrol and poured into their room and put fire.
“Before now, my wife was no longer taking care of me and yet, whenever a quarrel happened between us, she and her children would gang up to beat me up,” the suspect stated.
However, confirming that one of the children died on the spot, Ondo Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Funmilayo Odunlami said three of the five victims were confirmed dead at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo, where they were receiving treatment.
Reacting to the incident, the father of the victims, Liadi Akinfolarin, has demanded justice.
“On that fateful Friday, I returned home late from work, so I couldn’t call them because I knew they would come to my place on Saturday. But around 4pm, I received a call from an unknown person who told me that the house of my former wife’s husband was on fire. But I did not answer the person because the woman is no longer my wife.
“My phone rang again around 6pm, and the person said my children wanted to speak with me. I heard my first daughter’s voice that their stepfather set them ablaze with petrol and they had been taken to the general hospital in Ondo,” Akinfolarin said, as he recalled how he was informed about the incident.
Akinfolarin added that the mother of the victims dumped him for the suspect
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