Man sets six people ablaze for smoking Indian hemp

The Ogun Police are investigating the incident. Six young men accused of smoking Indian
hemp and gambling have been set ablaze in
Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, by a house owner in their area. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the landlord,
identified as Agba, in Ago-Oko area of the town
where the incident occurred, had warned the
boys on several occasions to desist from their
acts, warnings they ignored. However, on Tuesday night, the boys engaged
in their acts in their regular building which
infuriated Agba, their neighbour. The landlord subsequently poured a keg of
petrol, through his window on the first floor of
a storey building, on the boys. The already lighted Indian hemp was flamed by
the petrol causing a major fire that burnt the
boys causing severe injury. The victims were
later rushed to a state hospital where they are
currently receiving treatment. The victims are Saburi Seteolu, Raheem Bello,
Tunde Adesanya, Suleiman Adebesin, Azeez
Alabi, and Kola Sodehinde. The landlord, a commercial cab driver in the
town, has been arrested as confirmed by the
spokesperson of the Ogun State Police
Command, Muyiwa Adejobi. Mr. Adejobi said the incident occurred late on
Tuesday. “Information available to us is that the suspect
had an argument with the youths before he
poured PMS on them in Ago-Oko area. “For now, we cannot ascertain other
circumstances that led to the incident but we
have the suspect in our custody and we are
working hard to untie what led to it,” he said. The spokesman said Ogun Police
Commissioner, Ikemefuna Okoye, had ordered
a comprehensive investigation into the matter. He said the suspect would be charged to court
as soon as investigation into the matter was
concluded. He also warned youth in the area
not to engage in any reprisal attack, saying that
could disrupt peace in the area. When a PREMIUM TIMES correspondent visited
the hospital, the victims were seen with various
degrees of severe burns.