Two children of the same parents were on Saturday night roasted alive in their sleep in Ekpoma, Esan-West Local Government Area of Edo State.
The children, a female, four-year-old Oyenchi Akamezie, and two-year-old Chukwudalo Akamezie, a male, were reportedly burnt when fire from a local lamp engulfed their room at night.
It was said that the mother of the children, Christy Akamezie, locked them up in the room while asleep and left to prostitute.
A crowd of sympathisers, who had gathered at the residence on Ilenlua Street, rained curses on the bereaved mother, calling her unprintable names.
As at the time of this report, the charred bodies of the children had yet to be evacuated from their one-room apartment, while the police had arrested their mother for alleged negligence.
The father of the children, Chike Akamezie, a trader based in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area, who wept uncontrollably, said that though he had been estranged from his wife, he never failed to provide for the upkeep of the children.
Akamezie, who admitted he never paid any dowry on his estranged wife, alleged that he was compelled to separate from her because she was sleeping around with other men.
He said he never knew that the woman could lock up the children at night to go for prostitution, adding he would have collected the children while separating from her, if his mother was still alive.
The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Esan-West Local Government Area declined comment, but directed the reporter to the Police Public Relations Officer at the State Police Headquarters in Benin.
He explained that DPOs were not authorised to grant media interviews.
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