Hafusat said she has lived in the community for close to seven years and said her children only played within their compound
Hafusat Isiaka, a mother whose three children were part of eight found dead in a parked Honda Pilot Jeep in the Badagry area of Lagos, has denied that her children went into Saliat Kassim’s compound to play.
Saliat Kasim is the owner of the Honda Pilot Jeep where the eight children were found dead.
Hafusat, who said she has lived in the community for close to seven years, maintained that her children only played within their compound and that of a fellow Nigerien not too far from her house.
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Speaking on the death of her children, the distraught mother told The Nigerian Xpress that the eight children found dead in the parked jeep were pilled on top of one another as though someone killed them and carried them into the vehicle.
Demanding that the police and the Lagos State Government ensure she gets justice for the death of her children – Zainab (12-tear-old), AbdulWahab (5-year-old) and Yakubu (3-year-old), Hafusat insisted that Kassim is culpable in the act.
She said: “ It was Kassim that strolled out to inform me that my children are in the parked jeep. I rushed there and couldn’t even see (sic) inside the jeep clearly because it had tinted glasses. I looked closely and discovered the children were motionless. I ran out immediately and started calling neighbours to come to my aid. My other daughter who was with me rushed to call my husband from the mosque.
“ When people came, they tried to force the door open, but it was difficult. A young man whom I guess lives with the woman went in and brought out the key to the jeep. When we opened it, seven of the children were lifeless. Kassim’s grandchild was still breathing so people rallied to take her to the hospital and just left the other children laying there.
“When my husband came, on seeing his three children dead, he immediately started coughing blood, the shock was too much for him to bear. What surprises me more is that my children have never gone to that compound to play. They either played in our compound or went to that of our Dr friend who is also from Niger to play.
“I want the police and indeed the government to ensure we get justice. A person cannot kill those children and go free,” she said.
Hafusat’s husband, Alidu Isiaka, spoke about the tragic demise of his children.
Still shocked, Alidu said he had checked on the children while at Arabic school, before leaving to visit a friend, Baba Bintu.
He also stated that his children had never gone to the compound to play, saying the location of Kassim’s house is a bushy area.
He called for government’s help. “I left the house around 1:30 p.m. on my way, I thought I would meet my children returning from Arabic school, but I didn’t. I decided to check on them in school. I discovered they had not closed.
“ It was hours later when one of my daughters rushed to call me at Baba Bintu’s place that his three siblings were dead. I rushed to the scene and could not believe my eyes. What baffles me more is that my children don’t go to that compound. Although we have buried the children, we still want the police to investigate,” he said.
Ibrahim Jubrila, a father who lost two of his children in the incident, said the request to pay N100,000 for an autopsy for each child further discouraged him from seeking justice.
Jubrila revealed that his younger brother also lost two of his children, and said spending money to ascertain the cause of the death of a person is forbidden in his tradition.
“When we took the children to the police, they told us to go to Badagry General Hospital. There, the children were confirmed dead. They told us that if we wanted to know the cause of their death, we would have to be referred to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, for autopsy, and that we would pay N100,000 to carry out the test for each child.
“That was a turnoff because, in my place, it is forbidden to spend money to investigate the death of a Peron. At this point, the case is between the Nigeria Police and the Niger Embassy,” he said.
The Lagos State Police Command had said eight children died in alleged suffocation on Saturday evening.
However, residents are divided on the actual cause of death of the eight children, the police have been charged to investigate further to unravel the truth.