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Regional News of Sunday, 1 January 2023

Source: www.premiumtimesng.com

New Year’s Day Tragedy: Couple dies in mysterious fire

The scene of the incident The scene of the incident

A former staffer of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and his wife have been killed in an early morning fire incident at their Government Reservation Area (GRA) residence in the Ibara area of Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The tragedy, which occurred shortly after the couple, Kehinde Fatiniye, and his wife Bukola, returned from a cross-over church service on New Year’s day, is being suspected as a case of murder and arson.

The whereabouts of the son of the victims and their housemaid were also unknown as of the time of filing this report but they were suspected to have been abducted by their attackers.

A family source of the deceased told our correspondent that the suspected arsonists were reported to have kidnapped the son alongside the housemaid, and thrown them into a river along the Adigbe-Obada axis of the town.

Mrs Kehinde Fatinoye, until her gruesome death, was a staffer of the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNNAB), Abeokuta

The bodies of the couple were badly burnt beyond and were evacuated by the police and health officials who responded to an alert to the tragedy.

As the remains were taken away, hundreds of sympathisers wept profusely at the house.

READ ALSO: This year is particularly important to me, Buhari says, in New Year messageSome members of the church attended by the couple who rushed to the house following the news of the incident confirmed noticing them at the crossover service together at the church located in the Okejigbo area of Abeokuta.

A cousin of the late Mr Fatinoye, Ambrose Somide, expressed his shock and sadness over the incident.

Mr Simide is the General Manager of Daar Communications, owners of AIT and Raypower broadcast organisations.

The police were yet to make an official statement on the development, while the agency’s spokesperson in Ogun, Abimbola Oyeyemi, had not responded to calls to his phone as of the time of this report.