The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the heartbreaking incident of five children suffocating to death in a car on Sunday in Minna.
DSP Wasiu Abiodun, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Niger, verified the occurrence to journalists on Monday in Minna.
According to Mr. Abiodun, the Kpakungu Division Office of the police command received a distress call around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday reporting that five children, aged between five and 13 years old, were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle with registration No. GO 778 ABC at Gurara Albishir area of Minna.
Tragically, the children were discovered to have suffocated in the vehicle. Their bodies were later retrieved by their respective parents as the police arrived at the scene.
The PPRO revealed that the owner of the vehicle had been summoned for interrogation, and investigations into the matter were ongoing.
Meanwhile, a source from the neighborhood, who preferred anonymity, disclosed that the children had accidentally locked themselves in the car, which had been abandoned for over two years by its owner.
The source further stated that the parents found the bodies of their children in the car on Sunday evening after searching for them for hours in the vicinity.
Among the victims were four females and a male, comprising three siblings and two others from different families, including the child of the car owner.
