Man, 43, nabbed for setting ex-lover apartment ablaze

Etim Ekpimah

The Ogun State Police Command, on 4 April 2023, arrested a 43-year-old man, Yusuf Hassan for setting the apartment of his ex-lover Busayo Falola ablaze.

The blaze was said to have brought the entire building down.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the suspect was arrested following a report lodged at Ago Iwoye divisional headquarters by a 62-year-old landlady of the house, Adejoke Salau.

According to him, the landlady reported that she heard a noise from one of her buildings within her compound situated at No 127, Old Scholar Palace Igan Road Ago Iwoye, around 1:15 am.

Oyeyemi added that when the landlady came out, she discovered that the building was on fire while the tenants in the house were trapped in it.

“She stated further that it was the quick intervention of neighbours that rescued the three tenants, but the house got burnt completely.

“Upon the report, the DPO Ago Iwoye, CSP Noah Adekanye, led his men to the scene from where the occupants of the house were invited to the station for interrogation in order to know the possible cause of the inferno.

“On interrogation, one of the tenants, Falola Busayo informed the police that she saw her ex-lover Yusuf Hassan at the back of her window at about 12:30 am of the fateful day.

“She explained further that she was scared to see him at that ungodly hour which made her scream and ran out of her room to the room of another tenant.

“This made other tenants come out in order to check what Yusuf was up to, only for them to discover flame coming out from Busayo’s room,” the PPRO quoted the landlady as saying.

He added that upon the information, Hassan was hunted and subsequently apprehended.

Oyeyemi added that Hassan initially denied being aware of the incident, but when the DPO ordered detectives to go to his house and find out whether he was at home at the time of the incident, he decided to open up and confessed to being the person who set the house on fire.

“He confessed further that he intended to burn his ex-lover in her own apartment because he had tried his best possible to reconcile with her but to no avail, adding that her resolve not to accept him back, was the reason why he bought N500 fuel, poured it into her room through the window and set it ablaze.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police has directed that the suspect be transferred to State Criminal Investigation Departments for further investigation and possible prosecution.