A 28-YEAR-OLD woman, Firdausi Musa, and her two young children have sustained severe burns after her co-wife, Maryam Muhammad, allegedly doused them with petrol and set them ablaze in the Hotoro area of Kano metropolis.
The incident, which reportedly occurred late Monday night at Mai Allo area of Hotoro quarters, has thrown residents into shock, while the suspect is currently in police custody at the Mariri Police Division.
The victims, identified as Khadija Ya’u, 7, and Ismail Ya’u, 3, are receiving treatment alongside their mother at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala and Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, respectively.
Their father, Malam Saminu, who reportedly sustained burns while trying to rescue them from the fire, is also undergoing treatment.
Speaking to this newspaper, Buhari Musa Sa’ad, a younger brother to Firdausi, said the family received a distress call around 3am informing them that his sister, her husband and the two children had been set ablaze by her co-wife.
According to him, Firdausi had not spent up to two weeks in the matrimonial home before the incident occurred.
“She is around 28 years old. The children who got burned are the ones she brought with her from her previous marriage. They are stepchildren to the husband, who works as a tricycle rider,” he said.
A relative of the victim, Rukayya, also told Daily Trust that Firdausi had earlier complained about threats and intimidation from the co-wife before the attack.
“We were lying down here when she was brought in, and she told us herself that it was her co-wife who poured petrol on her and lit a match,” Rukayya said.
She further disclosed that the victim had left the house earlier that day because of repeated threats but later returned after intervention by her husband.
Efforts to get the reaction of the Kano State Police Command were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
