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 Journalist.
The spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, Magaji
Majiya, confirmed the incident.
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.
[Premium Times]
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