News Obiaks News

Properties worth millions of naira were yesterday consumed by fire which gutted a high-rise building at Low Cost Housing Estate, otherwise called Jakande Estate, in Oke-Afa area of Lagos. Though no life was lost in the fire said to have been caused by power fluctuation, it, however, rendered occupants of the building, among who is a seven -month-old baby, homeless. Reports said the fire started at about 8am in one of the flats on the top floor of  block 369, when most of the occupants had gone to their respective places of work.

One of the affected tenants, Mr Omenoko Christian, fought hard to hold back tears as he spoke to newsmen. He said: “The fire was  caused by high voltage. I am yet to trace how it started because I switched off my metre before leaving the house to drop my wife and our seven-month old baby, in her place of work. However, on my arrival, I was greeted by the sight of smoke billowing from the flat. Unfortunately, this is  happening just few days to my birthday. I have not only lost everything I have laboured to the fire, but my family and I have also been rendered homeless.
“I only moved into the flat five months ago, after carrying out renovation work which gulped close to a million naira.  Had the fire service arrived early, perhaps we would have been able to salvage some property. The most painful aspect of it all is that we have been on strike for over one month  in my place of work. Where will I start from? Where do I take my wife and our little baby to?”
Another occupant, Mr Ambrose Sylvanus,  explained that power was restored at about 6am yesterday but that it was fluctuating. “Initially the voltage was low. But all of a sudden, it increased. I left it in that state as I left for work, only to be contacted on phone that it had resulted in a fire,” he said.
Meanwhile,  Over 1000 persons have been rendered homeless as flood sacked about 60 homes and five churches in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State. The flood caused by overflow of Orashi river, affected five communities, including Oruama, Akinima, Mbiama and Joinkrama 1and 2.

Meteorologists had predicted flooding in some communities in the country, including those in Ahoada, which was also heavily hit by the 2012 flooding.When newsmen visited the area, flood had already taken over several homes, leaving the residents in absolute confusion and fear. Mr. Eniata Abiaba, a community leader in one of the communities, Akinima, complained that the flood took them unawares, adding that all their farms had been submerged. He said the communities were now in big problem, noting that the people thought they would never experience the type of flooding that affected the area in 2012.
He said: “The communities that are experiencing the flood is in a big problem because of the overflow of Orashi river. Now our homes and farms have been submerged in the water. We don’t have where to go and what to eat.”