Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

Monday, November 18, 2019 was a day of sorrow and gloom in Benue State, as four members of a family of six lost their lives in a fire incident in Makurdi, the state capital.

The fire, which affected four flats in the Qwararafa Quarters area of Makurdi, according to eye witnesses, started at about 2:45am in the living room of Mr. Sekegh Akaa, an acting permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Akaa, his wife, Linda and two of his children died in the inferno which burnt all his belongings and also affected three other flats in the block including that of the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Religion, Evangelist Daniel Unongo.

The woman reportedly died holding her two children in her arms while the man’s remains were found under a fallen roof just by the entrance.

Narrating how the incident happened to our correspondent at the scene of the fire incident,  Evangelist Unongo said he was still awake at about that time when he started hearing some sounds from Akaa’s flat.

“I was awake till 3am when I heard shouts outside. My wife encouraged me to come out. We saw fire outside the Akaa’s residence and the woman (Akaa’s wife) was crying with her children. We tried opening the doors but they were not accessible because of the burglary reinforcements.

“I tried getting to the Fire Service but couldn’t get the number on my phone. I had to put a call through to the governor’s aide, Abraham Kwaghungu who called the Fire Service and they responded swiftly.

“At 3:20am when the fire fighters came and started struggling to open the doors, it took them almost 30 minutes to break the doors. Sadly, by the time they were able to finally open the doors, they were all dead.

“We also discovered that the man, (Seker Akaa) tried to open the courtyard door but he probably had inhaled so much smoke and slumped while a roof also fell on him and he died.

“They were supposed to have a maid but we have not seen her either dead or alive. Four flats were affected. We tried breaking the windows and doors but the reinforcements did not allow us.”

Asked what could have been the cause of the fire, Unongo noted that it was probably not unconnected to a power surge.

He said: “We have recently been experiencing a power surge in this area, so, we are thinking it must be power surge. My gadgets were blown off by the power surge. They probably were asleep when the fire started.”

Unongo said two of his neighbour’s children, aged six and three, died in the fire incident while the other two are in boarding school.

Another neighbour, Mrs. Josephine Iorhemba, whose flat was also affected, said she discovered the fire incident at about 3am when she woke up to pray.

“I normally wake up to pray about that time, and I heard sounds as if they were breaking something. Initially I thought they were fighting then I heard the children shouting ‘mummy mummy.’

“When I came out and saw fire in the Akaa’s flat, I started shouting to alert neighbours. When Akaa’s wife heard my voice, she requested for detergent and water and I started calling on neighbours to come with the items to quench the fire. Of course, by that time, the fire was too much and had spread to other flats, including mine.

“By the time the Fire Service men arrived, I thought the woman had come out with her children, and then I heard her voice from inside the house, calling one of the children to come. So, I started telling the fire fighters to concentrate on quenching the fire in the room so they could come out.

“Later, I didn’t hear her voice again.  Unfortunately, by the time the fire fighters broke open the doors, they were all found dead in the house.”

Mrs Iorhemba, who described the deceased woman as an easy going person, expressed sadness at the manner in which the y died.

“She was like a daughter to me. She was in her early thirties. The two children that died were pupils of First Baptist School, Makurdi while the two older ones are in boarding house at Bristow secondary school, Gboko.

Mrs. Apiede Azor, elder sister to the deceased, was visibly shaken by the incident. She said somebody called her at about 7am to inform her about the fire incident, adding that she immediately had to move from her residence in Gboko to come to Makurdi. She said Linda was the last of the six children of their parents.

“I had no premonition that any such thing was going to happen at all. I saw her last at a burial in July this year but we spoke last on phone a few days ago. She was in her thirties. She’s the last of six children. One had died earlier. Now we’re just four remaining,” Azor said and broke down in tears.

Rev. Favor Akaa, brother to the deceased Akaa, said they had both attended a two-day retreat at ECWA Church in Makurdi at the weekend where he worshipped and praised God.

He said the last conversation he had with his brother yesterday night at about 11pm was about a certain transaction he was scheduled to do on Monday but preferred to do it on Sunday night before his demise.

“He told me that his heart could not rest until he had done the transaction. It is appointed unto man to die but you cannot spend time with God and tragedy will happen. It is a wonderful thing to spend 48 hours with God. His death is strength to us. It is time for him to depart and we give glory to God.”

The Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, who was one of the early callers at the scene, expressed shock at the level of devastation, describing the incident as a monumental disaster, and a “black day for Benu.”

Abounu said the state had lost a prized asset in Mr. Akaa and prayed God to give the Akaa family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

“We cannot undo what has happened. At the moment, Government will take responsibility for their burial and also assist the other families who lost property to relocate. We warn against any looting of property,” Abounu said.

The late acting permanent Secretary, it was learnt, was due to be confirmed Permanent Secretary soon before his demise. He was born on February 4, 1954.

Governor Samuel Ortom has also expressed sadness over the incident. Ortom, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, said the death of Mr Akaa and his family was a painful loss to the state government and Benue in general.

“He consoles the bereaved family as well as their friends and relations over the unfortunate incident. Governor Ortom prays God to grant the deceased eternal rest,” the statement.

At the time of this report, the bodies of the victims had been deposited at the mortuary. Sympathisers have continued to throng into the deceased’s residence as well as the residence of their relatives at Lobi Quarters to pay condolences.