The Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, has expressed concern over the spate of fire incidences in Anambra State.
He said Onitsha fire that claimed lives and property worth millions of naira as well as the Nnewi fire which killed a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Edmund Nwagbala, were not ordinary.
The Bishop told Daily Sun in Awka, yesterday, that he was disturbed by the recurring scenario, and eh demanded that the government take serious steps to avert fire outbreaks and to protect lives.
“Something has to be done to put a stop to these anomalies. I just hope that some unscrupulous elements have not taken to this act as another way of feeding on human blood and preying on people’s properties.
“The government and people of Anambra State have to be careful and cautious. The state government should take this issue seriously with a view to finding urgent and lasting solution. While making concerted efforts to equip the state’s fire service for any future challenges, the state should also go spiritual to find a more lasting solution. I suspect that unseen hands have infiltrated the state to feed on human blood,” he said.
“While also commiserating with Bishop Hilary Odili Okeke and the entire Nnewi Catholic community over the death of Fr. Nwagbara who lost his life in a recent fire that gulped his parish house in Nnewi, the Awka Catholic bishop said “losing a priest in that careless manner is, to me, saddening. I am deeply unsettled. This incessant fire must be checked. It must stop.”