A mid afternoon fire gutted a section of Abia State High Court at Olori in Ikwuano Local Council and destroyed property and items worth millions of naira.
An eyewitness said the fire started at about 2:00p.m. on Wednesday , January 4, 2023, during office hours. The witness said fire fighters who initially came at the scene could not do much as they complained of lack of diesel to power their truck.
Confirming the incident yesterday, Abia State Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Mr. Nnanna Arua said some court property and items worth millions of naira were lost , but no human life was lost to the incident.
He stressed that the situation was brought under control at about 4:00 pm, but re-ignited about 11:00p.m. until it was finally brought under control.
According to the CFO, the cause of the fire was traced to bush burning during the dry season, which escalated the naked fire towards the court building.
He confirmed that fire truck arrived at the scene late due to technical hitch and non-availability of diesel, adding that after the hitch and the filling of the truck with diesel, fire operatives moved to the scene, which is about 25 kilometers from Umuahia, the state capital and succeeded in completely controlling the fire.
According to him , while properties worth billions of naira were saved from fire incidents, those that were lost to the same were in millions of naira. He urged residents to avoid bush burning and leaving electrical appliances on when not in use.
He disclosed that the state recorded 65 and 41 fire incidents from the first week of December to the end of December 2022, at Umuahia and Aba respectively with two persons lost at Aba and one at Umuahia.
“It is obvious that the state fire service lacks operational logistics, but the state government has been addressing the scenario.
“ To improve its poor logistics scenario, the state governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, in 2018 moved the State Fire Office to his Office from the Ministry of Transport, among other decisions,” he added.
