by Anike Jacobs

The Kano State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Abdullahi Minkaila and his family are no more.

The deceased was burnt along with his wife, Zulaiha and two children, Aisha and Asmau, in an inferno when his residence was engulfed by fire early Friday morning.

Spokesman of the Independent Electoral Commission confirmed the incident. He said the bodies of the victims were already being conveyed to the late Commissioner’s native Dutse in Jigawa, for burial, in line with Islamic tradition.

Similarly, the Public Relations Officer of the Kano State Police Command, Magaji Majiya, confirmed the sad incident.

According to him, the fire might have been caused by a spark in the family’s generator set at about 4a.m.

He said the fire later spread to other parts of the house and that the INEC Commissioner and his family tried to escape through the window of one of the toilets in the building but were blocked by a burglary barrier.

Majiya said the State Police Commissioner, Ibrahim Idris, and the Deputy Police Commissioner in-charge of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), arrived the scene almost on time.

They were the ones that rushed the INEC commissioner and his family to Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, where they were confirmed dead.

Minkaila presided over last Saturday’s presidential and national assembly elections in Kano.

Sola