From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
An atmosphere of melancholy has engulfed some homes in Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra State, following a fire that razed some attached shops at the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) premises.
Owners of the affected shops at the NIPOST Onitsha Business Aid Centre are still counting their losses.
Daily Sun gathered that the incident, which occurred about 12.30am last Sunday, destroyed property worth millions of naira, including two bookshops stocked with assorted books and wrappers, a business centre comprising computers, photocopying machines, scanners and camera and a restaurant. Crates of soft drinks, coolers, chairs and cooking utensils were among the items destroyed in the restaurant.
Although no life was lost because nobody slept at the place, it was not yet clear what caused the fire since there was no electricity when it happened.
It took the efforts of some youths of the area and the local vigilance group to stop the fire from spreading to a nearby filling station, the main building of NIPOST and surrounding residential houses.
A newspaper distributor, Mr. Ignatius Iheoma, who lived opposite the post office, said they were outside getting fresh air due to the heat when they saw smoke coming out of the place.
“Initially, we thought the smoke was from those burning old clothes or papers at night but it continued and we came out to check where it was coming from; lo and behold, it was from the shops inside the post office. The surprising thing was the time of the fire was around 12:30am on Sunday and there was no electricity and also nobody was living there; so, we wondered where the fire came from.
“We immediately raised the alarm and called the fire service emergency line and they promised us they were coming. So, we mobilized some boys and the security guards within the area, who were fetching water from our yard opposite the place to fight the fire. But, as God may have it, the boys stopped the fire and saved serious disaster because there is a filling station, and other residential houses around the post office,” Iheoma said.
He regretted that the fire service did not come to the place even after the fire had been put out.
Iheoma, who called on the fire service to live up to its responsibility, also urged other security agencies to always be on hand to safeguard properties and avoid looting during a fire outbreak.
Owner of the affected restaurant, Mrs. Felicia Okonkwo, said the incident was a very big blow to her family, noting that the family lost its source of livelihood to the fire.
The 67-year-old widow said: “I lost over N500,000 to the fire incident because we don’t park most of our things here due to space and it was the weekend too. I started this business here in 2021 when I was sacked where I was staying opposite the post office. It was out of pity that my neighbour gave me the place to be using, until this fire incident.
“As it is now, I don’t know where to start with the hardship and suffering in the country. I need help from good-spirited individuals, corporate bodies, Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (ASEMA) and NEMA; they should come to our aid to enable us bounce back to life.”
An elderly woman, Mrs. Monica Awuruebo, whose bookshop containing books, stationery, wrappers and soft drinks was destroyed, said she lost goods, cash and other items in the inferno.
“I lost over N1 million worth of goods to the fire. I started this business in 2013 and have been using it to sustain my family as I aged. I was called on the phone by my neighbour, a food vendor, that I should rush to the post office immediately that my shop was on fire and I rushed to the scene. Behold, the shop had turned to ashes, not a pin was removed from my shop.
“We had about four shops here and they were all burnt, including scores of make-shift structures.
“We are yet to know the cause of the incident but it may be arson, as nobody was around and before we went home on Saturday all the electrical gadgets were switched off and I learnt that there was no electricity supply at the time of the fire. So, I suspect arson but God will expose the evildoer and punish him accordingly,” Awuruebo said in tears.
Another victim, Mrs. Peace Mbadiuyah, who also deals in books, said that she lost all her books and stationery in the fire.
“I stay at 3-3 Housing Estate. I could not come that midnight when I got the information about the fire incident due to the far distance. I could not sleep again until morning when I came to this place to realize that everything in my shop was razed.
“I lost over N2 million to the fire. I had stocked books and other stationery in the shop, which the fire destroyed. We need financial assistance from individuals and the government to return to business. The economy is bad and the fire incident has doubled our sufferings and hardship,” she said.
Also, the business centre owner, Miss Ifeyinwa Moghalu, lost all her computers, generator, scanner, camera and other office equipment.
Moghalu estimated her loss to be over N3 million, saying the fire disaster has rendered her jobless: “I have lost everything I suffered to acquire to set up this business centre. I come from a poor background and, after my secondary school, I acquired a camera and started as a photographer and I continued hustling until I set up this business.
“It took me many years to gather money to set up this business. I was buying these equipment destroyed one by one because I didn’t have the money in bulk. If I saved money for one item, I would go for it, until I gathered all these. It is now that I want to settle down to work harder combining both typesetting, scanning, photocopying and photography that fire came and destroyed them.
“I’m not blaming anybody but God knows the best and will surely console us in one way or the other.
“I need assistance from the government and individuals to start again because I don’t know where to start, but God will make a way.”
There was no word yet from the Anambra State Government before we went to press.