Fire guts residential building, destroys over N100m property in Imo State
By Athan Agbakwuru, Owerri
Residents of No. 4 Nze Ezeugo Nnadi Street, Anyadike Avenue(formerly Sunny Bobo Avenue) in Amakohia Community, Owerri West LGA, Imo State, were thrown into anguish and homelessness following a midnight fire outbreak that razed down their building last Friday.
Occupants of the house disclosed that the fire began about 2:30am that fateful day and raged for over 3hours before it was eventually put off by combined efforts of the State Fire Service and residents of the neighbourhood.
Our correspondent who visited the scene reports that the entire seven rooms, kitchen and conveniences in the building were completely destroyed with every household property inside burnt to ashes.
According to the tenants, no life was lost and none was injured because they managed to escape being trapped in inferno which they claimed the cause was unknown to them and was yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report.
The landlord of the torched building, Kingsley Okoronkwo disclosed that his attention was drawn by someone who ran to his private residence to alert him of the catastrophe about 3:00hrs.
“I was in my house when someone came and drew my attention that my other house was burning around 3am. I ran to the place but before I got there, everything was on fire with thick smoke everywhere. We tried to put off the inferno but it was heavy. Everything got burnt I thank God that no life was lost and nobody was injured,” he said.
One of the tenants who spoke to newsmen, Mrs Phina Tunankwe, a mother of three from Ogoja in Cross Rivers State, said she had lived in the place for five years and expressed shock at the incident.
She lamented the loss of everything in the house stating that all that her family has got burnt as they could not recover anything because of the intensity of the inferno.
Other tenants, Mr. Ikechukwu Onuoha, Miss. Ozim Chidimma Mercy from Arondizuogu and Ahamefula Sylvia, a pregnant woman corroborated the story of Mrs. Tunankwei pointing out that generator sets, gas cylinders, home appliances, upholstery chairs, food items among other items were destroyed.
Ozim hinted that she was the first to notice the fire in one of the rooms where the landlord packed his property and raised alarm before other tenants ran out and they started making frantic efforts to stop it but to no avail.
The tenants disclosed that the fire was not caused by electrical fault since there was no light at the time of the incident.
The tenants who wore gloomy faces lamenting that they are now stranded and rendered homeless by the fire, called for urgent assistance from both government and good spirited individuals to enable them secure new shelter and overcome the trauma brought by the ugly incident.
