Fire on Friday razed down a storey building of six flats located at No. 29, Udensi Street in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi State.
Okoro Mkpuma, a father of nine children and a staff of Ikwo College of Education, blamed the fire on a power surge.
The Ohaozara LGA native said that all his valued documents and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed by the fire.
Speaking further, he said he was on his way when they called him that fire is raging in their building.
According to him, “on reaching and I saw that all the building was on fire. There is no way we can sleep now. The whole building was razed completely.
“The problem was that there was an amount of money my wife kept inside the room. The money was given to her by somebody to keep. We will welcome any help the state government can render to us.”
Another victim who is a public servant, Aleke Samson, said he lost valuable properties and cash worth over N30 million in the fire incident.
He said: “I was called that our building is on fire. Nothing was removed from our apartment. Everything, both cash and properties, was gutted by the fire. The only thing is that there was no life lost. People who are around said that the fire was caused by EDDC power surge.
“I want the government to help us because we are totally stranded. What I lost in this fire incident is over N30 million.”
The Ebonyi State Chief Fire Officer, Engr. Raphael Ibiam said that they were contacted relatively late after the fire had gutted the building.
“This storey building had already been gutted by fire when we were called. And so, we came to fight the fire, and as you can see, the fire is almost over,” he said.
He warned citizens of the state to always put off their electrical appliances after use to avert the occurrence of this kind of incident.
