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Landlord burns tenant to death over N11,000 rent in Calabar
By Emmanuel Awosika
Earlier this week a landlord in Calabar burnt his tenants, Mrs. Mary Samuel, to death over her inability to pay the N11,000 rent she owed him.
The unfortunate event happened at No 9, Ansa Ewa Street, Cobham Town in Calabar when the landlord, David Ntietro Okon, doused the victim’s one-room apartment in gasoline and set it on fire.
The landlord allegedly locked the door to the victim’s apartment, preventing her from escaping the fire. He had also brought a machete to the scene and attacked those who tried to rescue the woman.
According to reports, the trouble had started when the landlord demanded the N11,000 in rent that Mrs Samuel owed him.
The woman, whose fish business was reportedly suffering due to activities of militants in the Calabar Water Channel, had pleaded with the landlord for more time to come up with the rent payment.
Her pleas instead engraged the landlord, who accused her of deliberately refusing to settle her rent debts. He then poured fuel in the woman’s room in fuel and ignited a fire in the apartment which led to the woman’s death.
Eyewitness say neighbors recovered the charred corpse of Mrs. Samuel and placed it in the landlord’s apartment. They also stopped the landlord from escaping, leading to his arrest later.
The spokeswoman for the Cross River Police, DSP Irene Ugbo confirmed the arrest of the landlord and the recovery of tenant’s corpse.
She added that “investigations are going on to unravel what really happened.”
