A Lagos-based fashion designer, Nofisat Jamiu, has been left devastated after a tragic cooking gas explosion claimed the lives of four of her close family members, including her one-year-old daughter.
The explosion occurred at her mother’s workplace—a gas retail shop located in the Apapa area of Lagos—where her mother worked as a sales attendant.
Speaking through tears, Jamiu, 27, shared how her world crumbled on that fateful day. Among the victims were her daughter, Hazimat, her mother Medinat Jimoh, her sister, and her father, Tajudeen Jamiu, who had only stopped by the shop moments before the incident.
“My mother had only been in the gas business for six months,” Jamiu said. “She wasn’t even the owner. She was working for someone and got paid at the end of the month.”
Before taking the retail job, her mother had been surviving by doing house-to-house laundry and selling small goods. Jamiu added that her father, a visual artist, had suffered a stroke in 2023, leaving the family financially strained and forcing her mother to become the sole breadwinner.
Describing the events leading to the explosion, Jamiu said the day had started like any other. Her father had visited her mother at the shop, her daughter had wandered in to play, and her sister, a hairdresser, was inside the shop resting.
“My brother told me that one of the cylinders suddenly fell and split open near the base. It was an old 50kg cylinder—rusty and unstable. When it started leaking, my mother tried to contain it with her hands while trying to figure out what to do. Minutes later, the gas exploded. Everything went up in flames.”
The victims were initially taken to Bola Ahmed Tinubu General Hospital in Apapa for first aid, then referred to Gbagada General Hospital and LASUTH due to the severity of their burns.
While her parents were admitted to Gbagada, her daughter and sister were taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja. Unfortunately, they all passed away within five days of admission—only her younger brother, Teslim, survived.
“I still can’t believe they’re gone,” she said. “My daughter was just one year and three months old. This pain has stolen my joy and left me in pieces.”
Now the eldest in a family of five, Jamiu is faced with the overwhelming task of caring for her surviving siblings, despite having no stable source of income.
“My husband doesn’t want me to go back to gas retail, but I still work at another location for the same woman my mother worked for—where the cylinders are still old and rusted.”
Jamiu is now calling on the Lagos State Government, NGOs, and well-meaning Nigerians for support, saying she cannot shoulder the burden alone.
“I need help,” she pleaded. “My siblings are still young. I don’t know where to start. I’m begging anyone who can assist to please help us rebuild our lives.”
