BIMPE: DEATH TO SMOKE

 

Living in a community where majority of people are noisome pestilence could be so demoralizing and terrifying as it took the life of an adolescent young girl at Alagbado - Lagos State.

Bimpe Samson, a sixteen year old student of DESTEL COLLEGE is a brilliant and hardworking beautiful young girl. She has a younger brother who is fourteen years old.

It was an unfaithful Saturday evening, both parent are yet to return from work while Bimpe and her younger brother were at home studying and doing their homework. Unfortunately for her, she wanted to help her mum to warm the vegetable soup in the house to ease the stress of work her mum will engage in when she got back from work but it was quite unfortunate that evening was a "Black Evening."

Bimpe puts-on the gas cooker in the house to warm the vegetable soup, few minutes later while the vegetable was on the gas cooker, a strange loud sound of explosion pitched-out from the kitchen as the gas cooker exploded with an explosive noise.

The innocent girl with her brother rushed to the kitchen to see what was going on, not knowing that the worse is just about to happen.

It was observed that; their kitchen window was directly opposite the smoke and heat from a working Yamaha light generating machine. Mr. Idowu, who claims to be an Engineer, confirms that it is very hazardous and dangerous to locate a generating machine or any machine that brings out smokes close to a gas cooker; it could cause an explosion or a fire outbreak.

Therefore, in an attempt to put the gas cooker off, Bimpe pushed the off button but it was too late as the gas cooker caught fire and Bimpe’s cloth also caught fire too which later affected the whole of her face and entire body.

The two  children shouted and screamed for help but no one could hear them as virtually all other neighbors had their generator set on and the noise from the loud television set interferes with their voice and therefore, the neighbors couldn’t hear any shout for help. They both screamed energetically until Bimpe fell on the ground because she was weak and had lost strength to shout as her body was almost roasted to bone. She died in the process as the pain became more agonizing and unbearable.

A video clip from a neighbour where Bimpe Lived.

Mr segun Abass, a neighbor in  an interview said that” he saw a strange smoke coming from  the direction of the victim’s window, he then ran to call the attention of the other neighbor around, they forced the door open but it was too late already because Bimpe already gave-up the ghost. Her brother was also in comma that moment and he was rushed to a nearby hospital in tears.

The parent of the Victim was put in a terrifying mood and gnashing of teeth as they refuse to grant any interview.

In an interview with the Baale of the community chief Ajagunla Kazeem who indicated interest in the matter said “ I am astound with the incident. I sympathize with the victim’s family and I pray such never to happen again” He further promise to do all he could to curtail and control unnecessary noise or use of anything that could cause noise in the community; either barking of dogs, cars horn, loud music, television, loudspeaker, generator etc. because it was established that if there had not been any  noise that is interfering with the shout of the children for help and if there had not been any form of heat or smoke from a generating see that aggravated the gas from the gas cooker. Such incident wouldn’t have ensued. Or the children would have gotten help when they needed and called for help.

, the family’s attorney, lawyer Samuel Ladejo said “it will not end here as I am going to file a report of this hazardous incident and press charges against Mr. Yinka. The neighbor who was using a generating set directly opposite the window of the victim’s apartment.”

Also, an activist in the said community said he had written to the Lagos State Environment Protection Agencies (LASEPA) in order to make awareness of the hazardous incident and thereby making them to come  to the community for an environmental assessment programme which will help curtail the emergence of such incidence again in the community.  He said his letter is attention to Mr. Tunji Bello. Commissioner for Environment, Lagos State.

Bimpe, young, brilliant innocent adolescent girl who could have been one of the ambassador for a positive change in our society tomorrow, but it was quite unfortunate that she lost her life due to smoke from a generating set that divulged with another smoke and heat from a gas cooker which resulted into a tragic fire outbreak. She could have been saved but still the noise from other neighbor’s generating set obstructed her cry for survival.

Compiled by:

Peter Kingspraise