A former commissioner for Housing and Urban Development in Bayelsa state, Chief Nimibofa Ayawei, has lost his son, Mr Mientei Ayawei, and the man’s girlfriend, whose name, The Punch reported as Happiness.
They were reportedly burnt to death in a fire incident which occurred on Saturday at the NIIT area of Tombia in Yenagoa, the state capital.
The burnt house
Credit: The Punch
The report said the cause of the fire which razed the apartment where they were burnt could not be ascertained.
It however quoted a source close to the family as saying the incident could be the result of a power surge.
Ayawei is the current chairman of the Bayelsa state board of internal revenue and the source said as a result of the power surge, an electric extension sparked and caught fire in the early hours of Saturday, October 15.
The building is owned by the former commissioner and his son and his girlfriend were sleeping when the fire began.
Two other persons in another room in the house escaped while the fire was said to have destroyed everything in the apartment.
The entire building would have been razed down, but the report said fire fighters helped with rescuing the house.
