The residence of Lt. General Oladipo Diya, a retired military general who was the deputy to late Nigerian maximum dictator, General Sanni Abacha situated at 31 Adekunle Fajuyi Way in Ikeja GRA, Lagos was gutted by fire on Saturday 2017.
But, in what seem like an attempt to shield the incident away from the public, entrances into the street were blocked and guarded by heavily armed military men.
Reporters who managed to find their way to the scene were prevented from taking pictures, neither were they allowed to ask questions.
A female reporter who was suspected to have taken pictures was harassed by military guards and forced to delete every picture on her phone.
A lady, presumed to be a member of the Diya’s famiy had approached the reporter to question what she was doing at the scene and who had sent her.
Soon, other family members joined the soldiers and eventually pushed her out of the premises. The soldiers later escorted the journalist beyond the premises and forced her to wipe off her phone of relevant pictures.
However, officials of the Lagos State Fire Service and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) who were on ground to put off the fire refused to respond to question as to the cause of the inferno.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni and Commander of the Rapid Response Services, who arrived at the scene also did not address the press nor take questions from anyone.
Reports gathered from persons around the scene of incident suggested the retired Lt. General was not at home as at the time of the incident.
The fire was eventually put off at about 7pm.
