Grandmother sets son, wife, grandchildren on fire in Ondo

An aged woman, Iforiti, has reportedly set her son, wife, and two grandchildren in the Aponmu community of Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo state, alleging that the couple has been starving her.

Iforiti, who was said to be living with her son, Victor, and his wife, Racheal, in the community, set the house on fire while the whole family was asleep, killing the couple and their two-year-old girl while one other is still in critical condition.

An eyewitness, Korede Michael,  explained that the incident happened around 2 am after the grandmother sprayed the room with petrol and set the house on fire and said “I saw the house on fire around 2:00 am at the weekend and had to break the window to rescue everyone in the house.

The old woman, her son, Victor Oloro; wife, Rachael; and children, Toluwani and Blessing, were all in the house when the woman set it on fire. She got some dry palm fronds and the little petrol her son kept in a gallon (for generator), spread it around the house, and then put fire to it.”

“I was the first person to notice the fire and jumped out of the house before other members of the community joined me in rescuing them. We got a vehicle immediately to transport them to the government hospital in Akure.

“When we got to Akure (UNIMED annex), the doctors and nurses rejected the patients, saying they cannot take care of them due to the degree of the burns, and advised us to take them to the Federal Medical Center in Owo.

“Unfortunately, we lost the last grandchild, who was just two and a half years old, immediately we got to Owo. The woman’s son and his wife died on Sunday, while the only grandchild left is also in critical condition.”

It was gathered that the woman, Iforiti, was not affected by the fire but was said to have attempted suicide sometime in 2022 by jumping into a well but was rescued by neighbours.

Korede said, “the children could not send the woman out of the house when she started behaving strangely because it was built by her late husband.”

Iforiti, who now stays alone in the burnt house, confessed she burnt her son and his family because they were starving him.

The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Funmi Odunlami, who confirmed the killing of the three people, said the old woman has been arrested

 Odunlami said, “the suspect has been arrested while the case has been transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).