Anthony Iwuoma
The saying that hell knows no fury than a woman scorned came into full effect in Gboko, Benue State when a jilted woman set her lover ablaze for reneging on his promise to marry her.
The runaway lover carried out the act at his former lover’s residence on Shaahu Road in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State.
The aggrieved woman torched the house where her lover, identified simply as Jude, his mother and a little boy were sleeping at about 1:30 a.m. on Monday.
Fortunately, though the lover was badly burnt, his mother and the child suffered minor burns and now being treated in a Gboko hospital. Also, none of the other occupants of the building lost their lives in the ensuing inferno.
According to am eyewitness: “We learnt that Jude had refused to continue his marriage plans with the young woman, following her bad attitude towards his mother and they were always quarrelling, the reason the man ordered the lady out of his house.
“In the early hours of Monday, she allegedly came with some people, poured petrol in and around the house, set it ablaze and fled but for the quick intervention of neighbours who rescued the occupants.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene, DSP, confirmed that the police received a report that a girlfriend set her boyfriend and his home on fire after pouring fuel around the building. However, she added that the suspect was on the run.