Ondo: Why I burnt my five stepchildren – Suspect

A 64-year-old man, Ojo Joseph, who reportedly set his five stepchildren ablaze in Ondo town, Ondo State, was on Wednesday paraded at the state Police Command, Akure, the state capital.

The suspect allegedly committed the crime while the victims were asleep following a disagreement between him and their mother at the Fagun Area of Ondo town last Saturday.

One of the stepchildren reportedly died at the scene of the incident while two others died at the hospital.

Parading the suspect, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Funmilayo Odunlami, said the suspect would be charged to court after the completion of investigation.

The PPRO confirmed that three of the five victims had died at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, where they were receiving treatment.

Speaking, the 64-year-old suspect said he committed the dastardly act out of anger because his wife and the children did gang up to beat him up in his house whenever he had a quarrel with their mother.

He said, “On that day (last Friday) at about 7 pm, I had a quarrel with my wife and those children joined my wife to beat me, I was even injured and that is how they do whenever we quarrel. So, after they have all slept, out of anger, I went to get petrol and poured it into their room and put fire.

“Before now, my wife didn’t take care of me again and yet whenever quarrel happened between us, she and her children would all gang up to beat me.”

Meanwhile, the father of the children set ablaze by their stepfather, Mr Liadi Akinfolarin, has demanded justice for the dastardly act.

Akinfolarin, who decried the deed of his ex-wife’s husband, stated that he separated from his former wife after she packed out of their matrimonial home and left the children for him to cater for, after which she married the suspect.

He said, “I work on the farm as a tractor driver. The children used to stay with me whenever I did not go to the farm. At times, I would stay on the farm for three to four days before coming home. And during that period, the children stayed with their mother till I come back from work.

“Most times when I was back from the farm on Fridays, I would call their mother to tell them I was back. And they would stay in my place till Monday, when they would go to school. After closing, they would go to their mother till when I would be around. That’s how we had been doing it on Fridays and Saturdays.

“On that fateful Friday, I returned home late from work. So, I couldn’t call them because I knew they would come to my place on Saturday. But around 4 pm, I received a call from an unknown person, who told me that the house of my former wife’s husband was on fire. But I did not answer the person because the woman is no longer my wife.

“My phone rang again around 6pm, and the person said my children wanted to speak with me. I heard my first daughter’s voice that their stepfather had set them ablaze with petrol and they had been taken to the general hospital in Ondo.

“Immediately, I left for the hospital. On getting there, I saw my children writhing in pains. Some were burnt beyond recognition. Their corpses have been deposited at the morgue.

“The remaining children are at the FMC Owo with the support of oxygen. I had promised them that after this trip to the farm, I would stop going and look for something else to do so that I can take care of them properly. They only stayed with their mother in her husband’s house whenever I was not at home. All I want now is justice.”

Punch