Former ADC, family killed in Jos fire outbreak

Retired ASP Anthony Kwame, former Aide-de-Camp to ex-Governor Fidelis Tapgun of Plateau State, was on Monday morning killed in an inferno that gutted his residence in the Jenta-Adamu neighbourhood of Jos.

Also killed along with the retired police officer were his two daughters, Theresa and Kerry, and son, Emmanuel.

According to Mr Terna Tyopev, the spokesman of the Plateau Police Command, Kwame’s wife, Charity and his daughter, Evelyn, survived the early morning fire disaster but sustained severe burns.

“The deceased were burnt to ashes; what were taken to the mortuary of Plateau Specialist Hospital in Jos were just the skeletons,’’ Tyopev told News Agency of Nigeria in Jos on Monday.

The cause of the fire was not known but neighbours told NAN that the fire started around 1am.

“The fire started around 1am, that is all I am sure of,’’ a neighbour, Tina Fobur, said.

The Village Head of Jenta-Adamu, Mr Kabala Bako, whose residence shares a fence with that of the deceased, said that he rushed out of his house when he heard sounds of the fire.

“When Ì rushed out, I called out other neighbours and we tried to put out the fire, but it had already engulfed the entire house and there was nothing we could do about it.

“But we succeeded in making sure that that not so many houses in our area were affected.

“In spite of our efforts, some adjacent houses were affected but no life was lost,’’ he said.

The two survivors, currently on admission at Plateau Specialist Hospital, could not speak with NAN on the possible causes of the fire.

NAN