The Nation Newspaper

Tag: fire

  • Fire razes Edo NYSC secretariat

    Fire razes Edo NYSC secretariat

    The store section and offices at the Edo State secretariat of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) were razed by fire at the weekend.

    Items including 5,000 mattresses, wheel barrows, documents and others were destroyed.

    It was learnt the  fire was caused by a refuse dump set on fire at a nearby building.

    Eyewitnesses said intervention by men of the Edo State Fire Service and Air Force officers prevented the inferno from spreading to the finance and account units.

    NYSC Coordinator Mr. Yusuf Abdulahi could not be reached for comments, but sources said he would assess the level of damage.

    An official, who preferred anonymity, said: “The fire started about 3p.m. on Saturday. A woman was burning refuse at a nearby building. The fire was near the fence.

    “The workers know about the fire; they have been coming to see the affected areas since yesterday (Saturday) . The inferno also affected a canteen.”

    NYSC spokesman Benjamin Esan confirmed the incident.  He said he would give details today.

    Esan said: “Yes, I heard about it. It happened at the weekend, but I was not there. I learnt the fire service officials were there.

    “We’ve just returned from camp. So, I cannot really say much until Monday.”

  • Harmattan: Lagos records 40 fire incidents – Commissioner

    Harmattan: Lagos records 40 fire incidents – Commissioner

    About 40 fire incidents were recorded in different parts of Lagos State over the weekend, the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr Seye Oladejo, has said.

    Oladejo disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday at scene of fire outbreak at a plastic factory in Oshodi.

    NAN reports that no life was lost in the fire which started at the raw materials store of the factory.

    The commissioner attributed the escalation in fire incidence to the return of harmattan weather to the state.

    “We noticed the escalation of fire incidents since Friday when we had a sudden change in weather as harmattan suddenly came back.

    “Since then, we have recorded about 40 fire incidents in different parts of the state.

    “Fire incidents are mainly caused either by accident or sheer carelessness on the part of our people,’’ the commissioner said.

    He appealed to Lagos residents to be more careful, especially as regards the storing of petroleum products in homes.

    “As a government, we will continue to respond but we will be happy if the incidents are reduced to the barest minimum; our duty is to secure lives and property of our citizenry,” he said.

    Oladejo said government would continue to improve its emergency response services by acquiring more sophisticated equipment for effective disaster management in the state. (NAN)

  • Fire guts Lagos factory

    Fire guts Lagos factory

    A fire incident occurred at a plastic manufacturing company in Oshodi, Lagos in the early hours of Sunday.
    The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
    The Lagos StateEmergency Management Agency (LASEMA) however swung into action to curtail the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
    According to Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu,General Manager LASEMA, fire fighters and other private and public agenciesincluding the Ikeja military cantonment were on ground to put out the fire.

  • One feared dead, 30 cars burnt as fire razes mechanic workshop

    One feared dead, 30 cars burnt as fire razes mechanic workshop

    One person was feared dead and about 30 vehicles were destroyed yesterday, when fire swept through below Apapa Bridge close to Snake Island.
    The fire was caused by a fallen fuel tanker. The NNPC tanker, which spilled its content was speeding through the curvy road when its driver lost control.
    Some hoodlums descended on the scene and began to scoop fuel.
    A mechanic workshop under the bridge was razed. Many customers were shocked on their return to see their vehicles burnt.
    The bridge’s pillars were cracked and marred with smoke.
    A worker who simple gave his name as Owolabi who lost two vehicles, said: “What we saw was that the trailer sped into the curvy road, trying to navigate the main express way. In that process, the tanker’s head detached from the fuel container. For more than 45minutes, there was no fire outbreak. But some area boys started scooping the fuel to hoard at a nearby garage. Fire broke out there and burnt some of them. They tried to contain the fire but it spread to the main spot where the tanker fell. The driver drove away the detached part and left the tanker behind.
    Most of the cars here are owned by customers who brought them for repair, Tokunbo vehicle sellers and villagers from Snake Island, Igbologun across the water. They don’t have road access there; so when they return from work, they would usually park here and come for their vehicles the following day. Two of my vehicles were destroyed. The government should please save us from these tankers. If it happened in a congested residential area, many lives would have been lost. The vehicles lost here is worth about N50million.”
    A man who simply identified himself as Ayo condemned the way tanker drivers operate in the area, asking the government to intervene.
    According to him, the tankers are fond of selling to black marketers after loading from their depots.
    He said: “I want to beg the government to help us deal with those who sell fuel on the road, especially those who sell on their way from the depots. If they load from the depot, on their way out, they sell per drum, per litre, per keg, to black marketers. It has happened before when fire broke out when they were selling. This fire could have spread to my father’s house because it’s close to the bridge. One of my friend’s Toyota Camry, he just bought last month got burnt. He lives on the Snake Island and only parked it here. There is even a Chief who has about three cars here. One of my relations too also has a peacock jeep too he wanted to sell.”
    A mechanic, Adebayo said his customers were still in shock, adding: “I was at home when my friend called that fire had razed our workshop. All our customers’ vehicles were totally burnt. They only pardoned us because it was obvious it wasn’t our fault. I cannot express the kind of sadness displayed on their faces. When my customer came, it was as if his source of livelihood had been cut off. The owner of one Camry car almost ran mad.”
    A member of the Tipper union, Suleiman Olanrewaju said: “Some people were chasing those hoodlums away and asking them to stop fetching the fuel but they refused. One of them fell and caused the fire to spread. This people must stop this kind of thing because they eventually harmed those who didn’t even have anything to do with the fuel. We all feed our families from here. If the government asks us to leave now, where do we go? We know they are trying their best to develop the state.”

  • The fire this time

    Has anyone heard lately from the National Orientation Agency (NOA), as the ethics – some would rather say propaganda – organ of the Federal Government is known? Established since 2005, that agency is said to be tasked with “communicating government policy, staying abreast of public opinion and promoting patriotism, national unity and development of the Nigerian society.” Its official motto is a sweeping call on all citizens to “do the right thing: transform Nigeria.” But there has been none of the assigned tasks going on at the agency in recent times, and all you hear from its end is silence – a deafening silence.

    Yet it seems to me that there are of late little nuggets in our nationhood experience around which positive narratives about the Nigerian democracy can be crafted, if only to encourage enduring practices along those lines. And the ethics agency comes handy in canvassing those narratives. In any event, sincerity of purpose in national discourse demands that citizens acknowledge little nuggets of positivity, so that criticisms of errant conduct in the polity, when warranted, are justified.

    Let’s face up to it: Nigeria is presently at the lowest ebb of nationalistic fervor. Conversation amongst the citizenry as of this moment has hardened around partisan, religious and ethnic / regional loyalties; such that even where issues at stake ordinarily have crosscutting relevance for all of us, extraneous sentiments are willy-nilly injected to blunt or utterly negate the universal application.

    Wasn’t that what happened with the protest marches last week over the crushing effects of the present economic downturn in the country? I doubt that anyone denies that the hardships resulting from the depressed economy constitute an experience common to most Nigerians. But when some celebrities and civil society activists called protest marches tagged #IStandWithNigeria in major cities on Monday to vent the public’s distress over the economy, establishment sympathisers were swift to whip up suggestions of partisan motivation by the march organisers. And not to be outdone, they bootlegged the protest march and staged a counter-rally in Abuja tagged #IStandWithBuhari, which was obviously aimed at upending the anti-government marchers. The curious part, as it emerged in online video accounts of the counter-rally, was that when asked their motivation, some participants didn’t even know why they were there. They confessed though that they were invited by some persons they hardly knew, who promised them unspecified rewards.

    My interest here is: the Police initially threatened to muscle down the protest marches; and their threats compelled Afro-Pop artiste, 2Face Idibia who was initially thrown up as the face of the march organisers, to back out at the last minute. But the marchers went ahead with their plan as scheduled, and better reason eventually prevailed with the Police as they allowed the street processions to hold unhindered. As it turned out, the Police’s conduct showed up a little nugget of democracy’s triumph, and as well marked a new chapter in the security codebook for handling public rallying in this country. I have always canvassed Police adherence to global best practice in this column. Integrity demands my saying I glimpsed that adherence in the Police’s conduct regarding the marches last week.

    Reports showed, for instance, that in the cities where the marches held, Police personnel accompanied the marchers without obstructing them. Actually, it was a pageant of free expression in Lagos as State Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni literally walked the distance with protesters railing against the authorities from the National Stadium to the National Theatre, on the mainland, while police vans packed with armed but passive operatives tagged along without disrupting the procession. When all was said and done, no untoward incident had occurred and no injuries suffered by any participant in the protest marches. It was in order that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo later praised the Police for “handling the protests with professionalism and respect for the rights of citizens.”

    You could sniff the sweet scent of democracy’s triumph in yet another civil action staged on Thursday, last week, by labour and civil society activists, still on the bruising pangs of the depressed economy. It was helpful that bootleggers were not at work this time as marchers stormed Lagos and Abuja highways to protest the harsh living conditions.

    Led by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Bobboi Kaigama, placard-wielding protesters marched in Abuja to the gates of the Presidential Villa where they demanded audience with the government. According to reports, they pitched in unmolested at the Villa gates when security operatives blocked their advance, until the Acting President sent an emissary requesting that they choose representatives to be allowed inside Aso Rock to meet with him.

    The protesters eventually met with Osinbajo, in company with some government officials including Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige and Petroleum Minister of State Ibe Kachukwu. They reportedly presented an 18-point demand to the Acting President, who in turn explained the efforts being made by the administration to tackle corruption and revamp the economy, among other things.

    In a simultaneous street procession in Lagos, protesters blocked a section of Ikorodu Road, which is major highway artery, as music bands entertained them with songs. But they sooner obliged pleas by security operatives to open up access on the highway to motorists. And the beauty is: there was no single incident of violent encounter between the protesters and security agents while the procession lasted.

    That there were no flare-ups or scuffling by protesters with the Police during all of the marches last week vindicates the argument that peaceful rallying against government, unfettered by security agents, is healthy for democracy and expands the space for national discourse. And neither is it injurious by default to public peace. If the Police and other security agencies needed any proof to guide their future conduct regarding peaceful rallying, I would say they had a good dose of that last week.

    American author James Baldwin, in his famous work ‘The Fire Next Time’ from which I obviously adapted the title for this piece, says, “There are too many things we do not wish to know about ourselves.” It is because autocrats dread to confront the weakness of their perspectives that they preemptively insist on them and shut out alternative views. And just to think of it: what could be healthier for a multi-dimensional polity like ours than a leader’s audience with protesters becoming a platform for dialogue, camaraderie and photo opps, like it turned out with the encounter by Acting President Osinbajo with labour and civil society activists last week?

    These experiences of the past week, in my view, offer some cue for Nigeria’s path forward in this democracy journey.

    A quick word on home vaults

    Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Ibrahim Magu late last week told the House of Representatives that the agency recently recovered $9.75million in cash, among others, from the home of a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Kaduna.

    Earlier in the week, the Police panel that probed the December 2016 legislative elections in Rivers State displayed for media cameras tons of cash said to be part of N111.3million recovered from funds the state government allegedly used to bribe electoral officials. And not too long ago, the Department of State Security (DSS) cited mind-boggling sums allegedly recovered in cash during sting operations on the homes of Justices that are now being prosecuted for graft.

    It is understandable that these cash piles are not domiciled in bank vaults for the simple reason, allegedly, that they are proceeds of graft. But it is curious how such quantum of cash exited the bank vaults in the first place. Monetary authorities need some soul searching.

  • N.96b property gutted by fire

    The Director, Anambra State Fire Service, Mr. Benedict Ofoma, has said property worth N966million was gutted by fire last year.

    He told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka that property worth N7billion was saved during the period.

    “The establishment received 117 distress calls from factories and residential buildings. Nobody died,’’ Ofoma said.

    He said inadequate water supply, shortage of personnel and vehicles hampered operation.

    According to him, the service operates with eight Mercedes trucks.

    Ofoma said the service had 100 personnel, adding that service delivery would require about 400 personnel.

    “Human resource is our major problem. We’ve demanded more 200 hands for efficient service delivery,’’ he said.

    The director hailed the government for its support and appealed for more.

  • Fire outbreak at NNPC depot

    The Niger State Fire Service has confirmed an early morning fire outbreak at the NNPC depot in Suleja.

    Mr Mohammad Kwale, the officer in charge of the service in Suleja, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that the outbreak affected the loading section in the depot.

    ”The outbreak started around 4:30am when we were called. By 5:00am we have put out the fire.

    ”An articulated vehicle was burnt while the loading canopy and some pipes were damaged. No life was, however, lost in the incidence,” he told NAN.

    A resident of Maje, Malam Garba Magaji, a settlement few metres away from the depot, told NAN that a loud explosion woke up the residents this morning, adding that they later understood it was from the depot.

    ”The explosion was like bomb. But a colleague of mine later informed me that it was the tyre of an articulated vehicle that bust at the loading bay.

    ”The depot has been sealed and fire service officials and the road safety are at the scene,” another eyewitness said. (NAN)

  • Woman, grandkid die in fire

    Ikare, headquarters of Akoko Northeast Local Government Area of Ondo State, was in mourning yesterday, following the death of a 60-year-old woman and her four-year-old grand-daughter in an inferno.

    The duo reportedly burnt to death when a bungalow near the Ikare Fire Station went up in flames in the night.

    The woman slept alone in the room with the child. She was said to have struggled to escape with her grand daughter.

    An eye witness, Precious Oluboyo, said neighbours tried to put out the fire.

    He alleged that candle light caused the inferno, adding that there was no electricity in Akoko Division, comprising four local government areas, since last year.

    A community leader, Chief Saliu Okola flayed the Olusegun Mimiko administration for not providing fire fighting equipment.

    The Vicar-in- charge of St Stephen Anglican Cathedral Church, Ikare-Akoko, where the woman was a communicant, Ven Joshua Idowu, described her as a devout Christian.

  • Tanker fire: APC condemns Fayose

    Tanker fire: APC condemns Fayose

    •Govt: his action shows love

    The Ekiti State All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned Governor Ayo Fayose’s appearance on the scene of a fire last Sunday, which razed a petrol station and 25 shops in Ijigbo, Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The party said the governor carrying a bucket of water to put out the fire was an act of pretence and hypocrisy.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun,  APC alleged that Fayose deliberately created conditions that rendered the Fire Service ineffective.

    Olatunbosun accused the governor of turning the incident into “a comic show” by shouting and rolling up his sleeves “in apparent showmanship in his usual way of deceiving the public that he is a man of the people”.

    But Commissioner for Information Lanre Ogunsuyi said the opposition’s criticism of Fayose’s rescue efforts showed that the APC is anti-people.

    He said the action was an indication that Fayose is a man of the people who is  ready to be with them in any situation.

    The commissioner accused the party of playing politics with the incident, which he described as “callous and unfortunate”.

    Ogunsuyi said APC did not assist the Fire Service during its four years in office.

    He claimed the agency did not have a functional vehicle when Fayose came to power in 2014.

    The commissioner added: “We built the Fire Service office in 2004 but they didn’t do anything for them.

    “The action has dignified the governor and showed that he is with the people. “How can APC be playing politics with the incident? This shows the type of people they are.”

    But Olatunbosun said: “Governor Fayose is an unconscionable pretender by trying to quench a raging inferno with a bucket of water after rendering the State Fire Services useless.

    “This is at best showmanship which Fayose is best known for.

    “Fayose should be ashamed of his conduct as he is telling the world that Ekiti is so backward such that it is a bucket of water that is used to put out a raging inferno.

    “It is the height of irresponsibility and sheer pretence for Fayose to turn himself to an emergency fire fighter with a bucket of water after he sacked trained fire fighters and paramedics recruited by his predecessor, former Governor Kayode Fayemi.

    “The governor also abandoned the modern fire fighting equipment purchased by the last APC administration.

    “Fayemi recruited 122 firemen and paramedics.”

    Arguing that there were no losses through fires during Fayemi’s administration, APC spokesman said Fayose had turned Ekiti State to “an enclave of anguish” by refusing to pay workers salaries, imposition of unbearable taxes on petty traders and school children.

    “He also cancelled Fayemi’s social security scheme for the elderly but later re-introduced the same programme “as a compensation for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) loyalists, who are beneficiaries”.

  • Fire razes shops at Army Barracks

    Fire razes shops at Army Barracks

    Goods worth millions of naira were yesterday destroyed following a fire outbreak at Army Signal Barracks, Mile 2 near Ajegunle, Lagos yesterday.
    The fire, which began around 6am, razed eight units of lock up shops.
    Angry traders parted with goods such as beverages, food stuff, exotic wines, crates of eggs, footwears, stationary and others.
    The cause of the fire could not be ascertained as at press time. The fire was started inside a container and spread to other areas.
    Some soldiers and men of the Lagos State Fire Service later put out the fire.
    A distraught Mrs Zainab Abejide said: “I don’t know how it happened because I don’t come on Sundays. I just got a call around 5:30am that my shop was on fire at Mammy Market. I whisked there on bike immediately and truly, I meant it burnt. All our goods got burnt. I sell drinks including hot, schnapps, wine and soft drinks. My loss is about N150,000. I couldn’t rescue anything. I was shivering and crying when I got here. People had to console me to leave all to God. I need help rebuild and restock my shop. I built the shop myself.
    “The land we are occupying here belongs to the army. They allow us to trade here. I have eight children. As it is, there is no way it won’t affect my home since there is no market to sell again. If I don’t come here, I can’t feed my family.”
    A stationery trader, Mr Emmanuel Agba said: “I’m speechless. The incident just surprised me. They just called me on phone this morning and on getting into this place, it’s just messed up. I don’t know how it started. There was no light whatsoever. I just came and everything burnt. I lost a lot of money because I sell books and you know books and fire are not on the same page. Most of my books gut fire but with the help of the soldiers, some were rescued before the fire fighters came around. What I lost is greater because fire razed the shop from the roof, so all the goods piled up were destroyed. All I could lay hands on were the ones below which some soldiers helped me to rescue. I was called around 6am. I was devastated and had to rush down. I don’t have another business besides this. Fire cannot just come itself. I believe it is someone’s carelessness that caused it. It must start from one person shop before it spread to others.
    “We have fire extinguishers and the soldiers here tried because if not for them, it would have been more disastrous. They did well.”
    The Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) Mwo Eno John said: “The fire started around to 6am and immediately they called on the soldiers. So those soldiers trooped in there with water. Already the area is not powered, we don’t what the cause the incidence . They have their own generators which they use as source of light. There was no light even in the barracks as at that time. The light was restored around 10am.”