Fire wreaks havoc in Benue, Gombe

Properties worth several millions of naira have been destroyed in a fire outbreak in a company, Lower Benue, located along Makurdi-Otukpo Road, Benue State.

The fire was said to have started around 9.45a.m on Tuesday, and it quickly spread across the premises while the worst hit was the workshop where abandoned and functional equipment were kept.

According to reports, the fire started as a result of an electric spark from the power house of the company and later spread to other areas.

It was also  gathered that the inferno lasted for more than one and a half hours before the fire service could put it out.

One of the staff of the company who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said, “I live around the quarters here. We noticed the flame around 9.45a.m this morning and we rushed to the scene where the fire started; we tried to put it out but it went out of control.

“We later had to call the fire service, but before they could arrive the scene, the fire had spread to several parts of the company.”

Another staff who also spoke appreciated God for sparing major offices in the company, saying, “we thank God that the administrative building, ware houses and sensitive parts of the workshop were not affected.”

When contacted, the state Chief Fire Officer, Mr Andrew Onmakpo, who confirmed the incident, said he was on transit, but his firefighters were on ground to put out the inferno.

In similar incident, no fewer than 48 shops and properties worth millions of Naira were on Tuesday burnt to ashes at Gombe Old Market as a result of fire incident.

The chairman of the market, Malam Mohammad Abba, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the incident occurred in the night, adding that the cause of the fire had not been identified.

He said that about 300 shop owners lost their goods to the inferno.

According to him, some of the shops consist of various goods, while the shops occupy by some tailors were also affected by the inferno.

He advised the shop owners to take it as an act of God and to be careful in handling everything that had to do with electricity.

Abba called on government to come to the aid of the victims.

Some of the victims also said that they were suspecting that the fire was caused by electrical fault.

However, they commended the men of Fire Service and the security agents for their immediate response.

They appealed to Gombe State Government and public spirited individuals to assist them.