A 19-year-old mother, Glory Etim-Akpan, has reportedly lost her one-year-old baby, named Kate Dickson, to a fire outbreak in Calabar, Cross River State.
The little girl was said to have been burnt to death when a fire from a candle stick torched her mother’s thatched house.
The incident happened at Eta Agbor area of Calabar, the state capital, on October 9.
When the News Agency of Nigeria visited the area, it was observed that the thatched house was completely burnt down.
The mother of the child, Glory Etim-Akpan, 19, told NAN that her child was sick, so she went out to a pharmacy in the area to buy drugs and pampers when the incident happened.
Etim-Akpan said that she left her baby girl at home sleeping while the candle was lit.
“My baby was having cough and catarrh, so I went out to buy drugs for her, and pampers. Before leaving the house, I lighted a candle on top of a metal plate in the room.
“I didn’t even get to the pharmacy when I received a call that our house was on fire. It was not up to 30 minutes that I left the house.
“Neighbours heard my baby cry, but they couldn’t intervene. When I came back, we broke the door and I found that my baby was already burnt to death.
“Also, I lost all my properties including my certificates. The fire burnt down my apartment completely,” she lamented.
She lamented that her life had been shattered as she had no shelter, no food to eat and no clothes to wear.
She urged the members of the public to come to her aid for survival.
