Scene of the fire outbreak
A mysterious fire outbreak has destroyed more than 300 houses in Jibili village, Wannune, the hometown of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, leaving thousands of residents displaced and properties worth millions of naira in ruins.
Residents said the unusual inferno began on Friday and continued into Saturday, wreaking havoc across the community. Many were shocked by the scale of destruction, as the initial outbreak did not appear severe enough to consume entire buildings.
Eyewitnesses revealed that when the fire first started, people around the area were able to put it out, making it difficult to understand how it later escalated into a devastating blaze that reduced hundreds of homes to ashes.
A victim of the fire disaster, Moses Answa Agule while narrating the incident, informed that he had left his house to go to Wannune when he got a call informing him that his house was on fire.
The victim said he had to run back to meet the neighbours who helped in putting the fire off but few minutes after he had prepared and left for the market square, he was again called and informed that more houses were in flames.
According to him, all the roofs of the standing thatch houses were pushed down to avoid the fire from spreading to them but sadly they still caught fire, a situation that brought more confusion to the residents and neighbours.
A visit to the scene of the fire incident showed that about one hundred households were affected, with over three hundred houses reduced to ashes in the inferno.
The cause of the fire incident is still unknown, even as the manner in which each house started burning (beginning from inside) has created more confusion among eyewitnesses and residents.
The two-day fire disaster stopped on Saturday following the intervention of elders in the community who, as reported, met on Sunday and warned in strong terms that the fire incident should stop, even as it did not spare visitors to the community.
Other victims of the inferno, who also spoke, said they did not know the cause of the strange fire and lamented that their sources of livelihood had been destroyed, leaving them with nothing to eat.
The victims noted that they had harvested their crops, both food and commercial ones, and stored them, only for the fire to consume everything, leaving nothing even for food.
Another victim, who identified himself as John, said he sold some of his farm produce and raised money for his children’s school fees, but both the money realised and the remaining farm produce were consumed by the seemingly unusual fire.
He appealed to the government at all levels to come to their aid to cushion the effects of their suffering.
A visit to the scene of the fire disaster also showed that the victims were truly devastated and helpless, and desperately in need of any form of support to enable them live useful lives.
Efforts to speak with the Tarka Local Government Council Chairman, Raphael Yenge, on the issue failed, as he did not pick his calls or respond to text messages sent to him.
