A 28-year-old lady, Firdausi Musa and her two small children were severely burnt when her co-wife, Maryam Muhammad, allegedly poured fuel on them and set them ablaze at Hotoro area of Kano metropolis.
Residents of Mai Allo area of Hotoro quarters were thrown into shock late Monday night as a suspect was arrested by the police at Mariri Police Division, Daily Trust reports.
The victims, Khadija Ya’u, 7, and Ismail Ya’u, 3, are currently receiving treatment with their mother at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, and Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano, respectively.
It was learnt that they are being treated while their father, Malam Saminu, also is receiving treatment after suffering burns while trying to save them from the fire.
A younger brother to Firdausi, Buhari Musa Sa’ad, told our correspondent that the family received a distress call at 3am that his sister, her husband and the two children had been set ablaze by her co-wife.
He said Firdausi had not spent even two weeks at the marital residence when the incident took place.
“She’s 28 years old or so. The children she brought with her from her first marriage, the ones that got burned. “They are stepchildren to the husband who is a tricycle rider,” he said.
Rukayya, a relative of the victim, informed our correspondent that Firdausi had complained of threats and harassment from the co-wife before the incident.
“We were lying down here when she was brought in and she told us herself it was her co-wife who poured petrol on her and lit a match,” she added.
The victim had earlier in the day left the house following numerous threats but returned after her husband’s intervention, Rukayya said.
The Kano State Police Command could not be reached for comment at the time of reporting this article.
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