The Lagos State police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin, has confirmed the tragedy that hit one Mr Osondu on Tuesday, in the Imota area of Ikorodu in the state – when three of his kids were suffocated in a parked Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) belonging to their landlord.

Lazarus (8), Marvelous (5) and Uche (3) were playing with their cousin, Blessing who is 11 in the compound, when they decided to get into the RAV4 SUV. It is still unclear what transpired before their remains were discovered hours later.

However, some
neighbours claimed that Blessing might have decided against raising an alarm because of fear of being reprimanded.

The landlord who was identified as just Mr Moses, for some reason, didn’t escape the anger of the mob who pounced on him until he was rescued by the police.

Hudenyin explained that: “the Officer in Charge (O/C) of Police Family Support Unit (FSU) received a distress call from anonymous callers of a suspected Sudden and Unnatural Death (SUD) by suffocation of under-aged children”.

He continued:, “The father of the deceased children said he was from Izii community in Ebonyi State and a tenant at the aforementioned address. The children were playing with their cousin, one Blessing Hyacinth, a girl of about 11 years, a foster daughter to Mr Osondu, at about 11am inside the landlord’s RAV4 SUV parked in a fenced and gated compound.

“One of them inadvertently pressed the central lock button of the vehicle and it ended up locking the trio till they got suffocated. The three children were taken to the Ikorodu General Hospital where they were confirmed dead by medics and their corpses deposited at the hospital’s mortuary for autopsy in the presence of their father.

“The landlord was brought to the station for protective custody and the RAV4 SUV was taken to the station for safekeeping too,” Hudenyin informed.