Residents of house No. 102, 2nd East Circular Road, in Benin, Edo State, on Tuesday morning woke up to discover the lifeless bodies of two young women in a locked shop in the house.
The victims, who were fashion designers, were suspected to have died of inhaling fume from power generating set.
The victims were said to have put on the generator inside their shop while working on Monday night.
It is suspected that the sad incident might have been triggered by the rush to deliver on time to their customers in readiness for the Yuletide season.
One of the victims and owner of the shop, who was simply identified Obianuju, was said to have invited her friend to work with her in order deliver on time to her customers.
It was gathered that Obianuju had approached her apprentices to work through the night, a request they allegedly turned down, which prompted her to invite the other victim.
The deceased’s lifeless bodies were retrieved by operatives of Esigie Police Division, after the door of the shop was forced open.
A brother to Obianuju, who identified himself as Chukwudi, said: “I got a call from my sister at about 2.00am when she complained that her friend was getting weak.
“I told her to give her anointing oil. Minutes later, I put a call to her mobile phone to know the situation of things, but she did not pick my call.
“So, I came here this morning and we invited the police to force the door open, and that was it.”
