Two security guards ave been arrested by the officials of the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly setting two houses on fire in the Ajah area of the State.
The two suspects identified as Muhammed Kiga and Joseph James, conspired with one Musa, who is at large, to commit the offence in November, 2015.
A police source said Musa and 20-year-old Kiga were employed to guard a property on Louis Fadipe Street, Thomas Estate, Ajah.
According to Punch, Musa, who owned a motorcycle, was alleged to have had a disagreement with the landlord after his motorcycle scratched the latter’s car.
The source said, “They had a disagreement and the landlord banned him from bringing the motorcycle into the compound.
“That angered him and on November 5, 2015, while everybody was asleep, he set the car on fire. In the end, three cars were burnt and the house was equally affected. It took the intervention of firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service to put the fire out.”
After Musa fled the area, his assistant, Kiga, who had lost his job in the first house, was employed to watch over another house on the street in the presumption that he knew nothing about the arson.
Kiga, an indigene of Borno State was said to have employed the assistance of 18-year-old James who relocated to Lagos State after his school principal asked him and his colleagues to stop coming to school after the Chibok schoolgirls were abducted.
However, another fire outbreak rocked the new building on Thursday, November 19, 2015 two weeks after the first incident.
The two suspects, Kiga and James were subsequently arrested by policemen from the Ajah division and the matter was later transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation to unravel the mysteries surrounding the two incidents.
Kiga who blamed Musa for the fire incident claimed to be innocent of the accusation.
He said: “I came to Lagos two years ago to work and make ends meet. I became a security guard in the first house and was assisting Musa. I was paid N20,000 as salary.
“Just four months after I was employed, Musa had a disagreement with the landlord. On the day of the incident, I went to sleep around 12am. He was beside me, but suddenly, he left my side. It was around 3am that Musa went and set the car on fire. I did not have a hand in it.”
He claimed that residents sighted Musa, sneaking into the property to set it on fire.
James said: “I was in SS 2 when the principal said we should stop coming to school because of Boko Haram. And because I could not continue to stay at home, I came to Lagos to work.
“I had barely worked for two weeks when the second fire happened and I don’t know the cause of it. I went to sleep around 12am and it was 3am that I heard people raise the alarm.”
The Police Public Relations Officer, Joe Offor is yet to confirm the incident.
