Three children of the same parents and two others whose ages ranged from five to 10 years died in an abandoned Honda Civic with Registration No. GO 778 ABC in Niger State following suffocation after they locked themselves inside the car for hours.
It is a common sight to find children in large numbers throwing caution to the wind and playing on the streets of Minna, the state capital.
The incident happened on Sunday in the Gurara Albishir area located on Bida Road when the children mistakenly entered the vehicle which had been abandoned for two years before the incident and locked themselves inside for over five hours.
An eyewitness in the neighbourhood who gave his name as Bala Usman said the children were playing in a large compound when they hopped into the abandoned car which refused to open.
“They tried to open the car and it refused to open and so they gave up trying. The car had been parked there for about two years by the owner.
“They might have mistakenly locked themselves up from around 11 am while the parents were searching for them only to discover their dead bodies in the car around 4 pm after fruitlessly looking everywhere around the vicinity,” Usman said.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the victims, which included four females and a male, comprised three siblings and two victims of different parents including the owner of the car. Their names and ages were given as Zahra, 10; Aisha, seven; Fati, five, and Isah, seven.
Our correspondent could not ascertain the identity of the fifth victim.
In his reaction, the chairman of Chanchaga Local Government Area, Aminu Ladan, confirmed the incident, describing it as unfortunate.
“This is a very unfortunate incident, I must tell you. We pray for the families to be comforted at a time like this,” he said.
Aminu, whose residence is located around the neighbourhood where the incident occurred, immediately visited the scene and condoled with the bereaved families.
The Niger State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, who also reacted to the incident said the owner of the vehicle had been invited for questioning while the matter was under investigation.
“On 21/4/2024 at about 6.30 pm, based on information received at Kpakungu Division, five children of about five to 13 years of age were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle with Reg No. GO 778 ABC at Albishiri area of Minna.
“They were found to have suffocated in the vehicle, while their bodies were later removed by the various parents, as the police visited the scene.
“However, the owner of the vehicle was invited for questioning, as the unfortunate incident is under investigation,” he stated in a WhatsApp message sent to our correspondent.(Punch)
