Five children suffocate to death inside packed car in Niger state

Five children of three families suffocated to death after they mistakenly locked themselves up in a parked car for five hours in Minna, the Niger State capital. 

The incident occurred in Gurara Albishir area (Area 1) located on Bida Road in Minna on Sunday, April 21, 2024. 

It was gathered that the children were playing in a large compound outside their houses when they unknowingly locked themselves up in the abandoned Honda Civic car, which had been left unused for about two years by the owner.

According to the Leadership, the children locked themselves up since around 11am while the parents were looking for them only to discover their dead bodies in the car around 4pm after frantic searches everywhere around the vicinity.

It was gathered that the victims, which included four females and a male, were made up of three siblings, who were the only children of their parents, while the remaining two victims were children of different parents including the owner of the car, respectively.

Their names and ages of four of the victims were given as Zahra, 10, Aisha, 7, Fati, 5, and Isah, 7.

The chairman of Chanchaga local government area, Aminu Ladan, whose house is around the area where the incident happened, confirmed the incident on Monday. 

Speaking to journalists after visiting the scene, he described the incident as unfortunate while condoling the parents of the deceased children.

The spokesperson of the State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, who confirmed the incident in Minna on Monday said the matter was reported at Kpakungu Division.

According to the PPRO, the children were found in the Honda Civic with Reg No. GO 778 ABC at Albishiri area of Minna.

“They were found to have suffocated in the vehicle, while their bodies were later removed by the various parents, as Police visited the scene”, he said. 

He said that the owner of the vehicle has been invited for questioning, adding that investigation is ongoing.