Two children found dead inside a car

LAGOS.....Tragedy struck recently in Ibeshe area of Ikorodu, Lagos, after two children were found dead  inside  a car. One of the children, Olamipo Oluwaferanmi Kadiri, who was two years and three months old, was the last child of a management staff of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority,  LAWMA while the other child, whose identity could not be ascertained, was a niece who only came visiting during the yuletide season.

Crime Alert gathered that the family resides at Oworo, Bariga area of Lagos. But they usually visited  Ibeshe, where they just completed a building of their own, during  weekends and festive periods.

Collection of car keys

During one of those visits, the older child who was barely four years old reportedly collected the car key from where it was kept in the sitting room and accompanied by little Olamipo,  made straight  for the garage where the car was parked.

She reportedly opened the car, went inside with Olamipo and shut the doors with all windows wound up.

Meanwhile, back in the sitting room, Mrs Kadiri reportedly called out on both children when she did not hear their voices for about an hour. A search as gathered, was conducted round the bedrooms apparently thinking they might have slept off in one of the rooms.

But apprehension set in when the children were  not found.

Crime Alert gathered that as the search was extended outside the sitting room, a member of the search team screamed on sighting the children inside the car,  motionless.

They were reportedly rushed to Lagoon Hospital where unfortunately, they were confirmed dead.

A resident of the area who spoke on condition of anonymity said; “We were attracted by the shout. But no one could  go into the compound because they are new people. Besides, they are not permanent here. It was later  we heard that two children died of suffocation inside their car.

We were also made to understand that the children could not open the door to come out because they apparently  touched the  car remote. Nobody could tell whether they  screamed or not, or whether they tried to open the door. But you know as children, they might not know the implication of being shut inside the car. It is an unfortunate incident that is difficult to  imagine.”

Another close family friend  who also spoke on condition of anonymity described the late Olamipo as an exceptional child. “That child was an intelligent child. She was always fun to be with. She was extraordinarily intelligent. Had she been alive, she would have been a star to be reckoned with.

That is why her parents are really devastated by the tragic incident. Her mother especially, is yet to come to terms with  the rude shock of her daughter’s demise. She is really in a bad shape right now.  Although Olamipo was the third child but she was indeed the family’s favourite because she always brought smiles to everyone’s face.”

Effort to reach the LAWMA manager failed as Crime Alert learnt she was yet to resume as at Monday.