A 28-year-old newly married woman and her two young children were left with severe burns after, police say, a co-wife doused them with petrol and set them alight in a residential neighborhood late at night. The suspect is now in custody.
The victims — mother Firdausi Musa and her children, 7-year-old Khadija Ya’u and 3-year-old Ismail Ya’u — are receiving treatment at separate hospitals. Their husband, identified as Malam Saminu, also suffered burns while attempting to rescue them and is undergoing care.
A younger brother of the woman, Buhari Musa Sa’ad, said the family received a distress call at about 3 a.m. notifying them that his sister, her husband and the two children had been attacked. He added that Firdausi had been in the marital home for less than two weeks.
Sa’ad said the children who were burned came with Firdausi from a previous marriage and are stepchildren to her husband, who works as a tricycle rider.
A relative named Rukayya said Firdausi had previously complained of threats and intimidation from the co-wife. “She told us herself that it was her co-wife who poured petrol on her and lit a match,” Rukayya said, adding that the victim had briefly left the house earlier that day because of the threats but returned after the husband intervened.
