The discovery of the lifeless bodies of a businessman, Lawrence Olorungbon, his pregnant wife, and three children in their one-bedroom self-contained apartment has left residents of Kofo Abayomi Avenue in Apapa, Lagos State, in a state of shock.
The tragic incident occurred just two days after the family moved into the apartment, and is thought to have been caused by fumes from their power generator.
Last Wednesday, the late businessman’s secretary, Njoku Treasure, was unable to contact him on his mobile phone, according to reports.
Read Also: Court sentences man to 10 years imprisonment for raping 29-year-old farmer
After failing to contact him the following day, she went to his Apapa home, only to find the front door locked and keyed.
She claimed that there was an offensive odour in the air and that flies buzzed around her. She immediately alerted officers from the Apapa Division, who arrived at the scene and forced open the front door, only to find the bodies in a state of decomposition.
The supermarket in front of the building was still locked when I visited the community yesterday.
As a new tenant, some of the neighbours only knew her as Iya Israel.
They claimed that the incident occurred on Tuesday of last week, and that the family had last been seen the day before.
Conversations among neighbours
“All the tenants in the building moved in not quite long because the building was renovated,” said a resident who only gave her first name, Blessing. Mr Lawrence and his family moved into the compound on Sunday, May 22, 2022, after being served with a notice to vacate their previous residence in Apapa’s Liverpool neighbourhood.
Because that was the last time they were seen, the unfortunate incident occurred on Tuesday, May 24,2022. Nobody knew what had happened until the lady who worked at their POS shop in Liverpool called on Thursday. She explained that she had come to get money. It was a hasty death; the entire family had been eliminated.”
Read Also: Peter Umeadi emerges victorious in the APGA Presidential Primaries
“I went to their compound on Thursday to make hair for one of the sales girls, Kuffravis, who works at the supermarket,” another resident, Iya Didi, who plaits hair, said. I noticed how bad the place smelled while I was there. They couldn’t tell me what they were smelling when I asked. I had no idea what had happened to one of the new tenants because there were flies everywhere.”
“I last saw them on Tuesday,” another female tenant in the same building said. Because the pumping machine had failed, I saw the man fetching water late that night.
“We didn’t see any of them throughout Wednesday.” And because they had just moved in, we had no suspicions. His car was parked inside the compound, and their break-in was hidden from view from the street.
“That Wednesday, the owner of the supermarket downstairs complained that a parked car was obstructing customers’ access to their store.” I dialled his phone number, which rang but was not answered. When the entire place started to smell, we suspected it was fishing.”
When the Olorungbon’s door was forced open, the pregnant woman was discovered naked near the door, apparently attempting to crawl outside to cry for help before dying.
The man’s body was discovered lying down on the bed, with his two-year-old baby on his chest, and the bodies of the other two children on the bed.
The late businessman also had an altercation with a commercial motorcyclist on Tuesday evening, according to reports. The latter is said to have collided with the former’s parked vehicle outside the building.
According to reports, the deceased insisted on receiving N10,000 from the motorcyclist in order to repair the damage to his car. The okada rider allegedly handed him the money angrily while cursing under his breath, according to eyewitnesses.
