Tony Osauzo, Benin
An unidentified Assistant Superintendent of Police serving at the Aideyan Police Division in Benin City, has been hospitalised after inhaling smoke while attempting to put out the fire that gutted the residence of the lawmaker representing Ovia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mrs Omosede Igbinedion.
The officer was rushed to hospital in a police Hilux van after some of his colleagues assisted him to rise on his feet.
The policeman, it was learnt, had climbed a ladder in an attempt to use fire extinguishers to stop the fire from spreading, but the thick smoke emitting from the burning building prevented him.
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The building, it was learnt, was given to Omosede as a wedding gift from her father, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin Kingdom.
Some of the lawmaker’s domestic staff said the fire started from her bedroom which was locked, but the timely intervention of the Edo Fire Service stopped the fire from spreading.
Chief Igbinedion and his wife, Lady Cherry, later arrived at the premises looking worried.
Mrs Omosede, who was said to have gone out for campaigns when the fire started, arrived shortly after the fire had been put out.