By Christopher Oji
Few hours to start its Annual 5-day crusade, fire razed down House of David Church, Surulere Industrial Road, off Adeniyi Jones,Ikeja, Lagos.
The fire outbreak has been successfully put out by emergency responders but has already destroyed property worth several millions.
A worker in the popular church said they had advertised the 5-day programme, sharing flyers, and they were expecting thousands of people in the church Wednesday evening, when the fire incident occurred at about 11 am. “We have been making arrangements, even went as far as decorating the place and training some of our members on how to confront emergency situations, such as fire outbreak. Guess who trained our people? Fire service,” the witness said.
According to South West Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, “the fire which started at about 11am at the rear end of the church was not noticed by the church workers,but passersby who drew the attention of the indoor workers to the incident.
“No one sustained injury and no casualty recorded.The church had organised a 5-day crusade starting from this evening by 5pm and ends on the 4th of February, 2024.
“The premises was said to have been leased and insured as hired by the Church.It was found out that due to the expected turn out of congregants for the crusade, the Church workers had been trained by Fire Service to prepare for any eventualities.”
Reacting to the sudden incident, the Senior Pastor of the Church, Olusola Osunmakinde, encouraged his congregation and the general public not to lose hope in God.
He assured the church congregation that regardless of the incident, the programme set for Wednesday, January 31, will still hold at the same venue.
“Some people saw the whole thing from the beginning and by the grace of God, We’ll have a greater recovery,” he stated.
As of press time, the agencies on ground at the scene are :NEMA, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Lagos Emergency Management Agency, State Fire Service and the Police.