A yet to be identified 40-year-old man on Saturday set himself and his girlfriend ablaze in his house at the Inikpi area of Makurdi, Benue State, after pouring petrol on himself and the girl.
The man, who committed the crime in his personal room, died immediately.
The girl, who was burnt beyond recognition, was taken to hospital.
The incident, which occurred about 6:30 pm, attracted a lot of people who expressed their anger and surprise at what many of them described as “an act of lunacy”.
When The Nation visited the house, officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were seen conveying the man’s corpse and the girl to hospital.
Firefighters worked assiduously and courageously to put out the fire which was about spreading to other houses.
A neighbour told The Nation that “the man claimed to have a wife and children somewhere, but he was always saying that they had once threatened to put an end to his life”.
Another neighbour said the man had a mental problem.

By Uja Emmanuel