By Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
It was sad and sorrowful Sallah celebration for the sleepy town of Samora in Kwara State, as they are still mourning the death of four members of a family, who died after inhaling fumes from a generator left on overnight during the last Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.
CompassNG correspondent learnt from sources in the town that unlike a tradition of joy that often attend the Sallah season, the story this year was a sad one.
According t natives who spoke on condition of anonymity, indigenes of the town, like other Igbomina communities, often come from all over the country where they are domiciled to celebrate the ‘Ileya’ festival, which is always a congregation of reunions.
It was said that in some cases, such occasions used to serve as avenues where young women and men who are prospective couples meet and strike marital bonds.
The victims, who members of Ojomu family compound in Samora, in Irepodun Local Governmrnt Area of Kwara State, included the husband, two women, one of who was the wife, her friend and a friend of one of his children.
The deceasedwere said to have come down from Lagos to celebrate the Sallah festival in Samora, their town, where the tragic incident happened.
Two other victims, said to be unconscious, when residents broke into their apartment on Wednesday morning, when the sad incident was discovered were said to have been rushed to the General Hospital, Offa, for medical attention.
Sources told CompassNG that the lifeless bodies of the deceased were discovered in morning.
They were said to have engaged in deep celebration far into the night and their electric generator was put on, while they all slept off.
An old woman, said to be a member of the family in the compound, who wanted to go and greet them in the morning, because she had not had a good audience with them the previous day, was said to be the one that discovered that they had all died and raised the alarm.
A source volunteered to CompassNG “”Two of them, who were still alive when residents went in were unconscious. They are lying in critical condition at the hospital now and we don’t know their fate yet.”
No one was in the mood to tell whether the deceased had been buried, however, it is exepected that they might have been buried according to Islamic rites.
