The Resident Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, in Kano, Mikaila Abdulahi, is dead.
Mr. Mikaila, who oversaw last Saturday’s presidential and national
assembly elections in the state, died in a fire incident described as
‘strange’ by neighbours.
Mr. Mikaila’s wife, Zulaiha; and two daughters, Aisha and Asmau; were
also killed in the incident, neighbours told PREMIUM TIMES.
The spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, Magaji Majiya, confirmed the incident.
Mr. Majiya, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said the INEC
commissioner and his family died as they tried to escape through the
window of their apartment.
He said the fire was suspected to have been caused by a spark in the family’s generator at about 4 a.m. on Friday.
He said the fire later spread to other parts of the house and that
the INEC Commissioner and his family tried to escape through the window
of one of the toilets in the building but were blocked by a burglary
barrier.
Mr. Majiya said the State Police Commissioner, Ibrahim Idris, and the
Deputy Police Commissioner in-charge of Criminal Investigation
Department, arrived the scene almost on time.
They later rushed the INEC commissioner and his family to Murtala
Muhammad Hospital, where they were confirmed dead, the police
spokesperson said.
While the police said they were waiting for the result of an autopsy
on the remains of Mr. Abdullahi and his family, the spokesperson for the
Kano State office of INEC, Garba Muhammed, said the bodies of the
victims were already being conveyed to his native Dutse, the Jigawa
State capital, for burial, in line with Islamic tradition.
Some neighbours, who declined to be named in this story for fear they
might be harassed by the police, said the fire was strange, and
suggested the police should not consider the incident an ordinary one.
They wondered why a spark from a generator would engulf an entire building and kill its occupants so fast.
Source:Premium Times

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