Mrs Theresa Jimoh, the mother of a billionaire business mogul, Jimoh Ibrahim, was killed in a fire that broke out at her house in the Victoria Garden City, Lagos Island, Lagos State on Saturday.
New reports have now revealed that the fire, which started in the early hours of Saturday, was caused by candlelight.
Jimoh Ibrahim’s mother was reported to have slept off while praying at her residence on Road 3, House B8, and was burnt to death before the intervention of firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service.
The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Musbau, confirmed the incident saying:
“We got the call in the early hours of Saturday and the Lekki Fire Station responded to it. The VGC estate has a fire unit. So, before we were called, they had been trying to contain the fire on their own; but they were overwhelmed. Their vehicle also had a fault.
“When we got there, the fire was well alight. We recovered the woman with the joint efforts of LASEMA officials, who took away her corpse. What we gathered was that she always had prayer sessions, and maybe in the process, she lit a candle and slept off.”
The Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, said the fire started around 2am.
He said, “Someone had heard the woman calling for help, but when they got there, her room was engulfed in fire. The estate fire service and the state fire service worked together to put out the inferno. The corpse was later deposited in a Lagos State general hospital morgue. Investigation is ongoing into the actual cause of the fire.”
