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Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
Rice farmers and millers in Ebonyi State are spending the first month of 2019 in sorrow and agony.
In the night of Thursday, December 20, 2018, a strange fire had gutted the Abakaliki Rice Mill in the Ebonyi State capital, destroying paddy, machines and parts of the building. The estimated cost of items destroyed by the fire has been conservatively put at about N120 million. And right now, a month after the incident, the farmers and millers are still bemoaning their fate and counting their losses.
A few days to the last Christmas celebrations, at about 9pm on Thursday, December 20, fire had engulfed one of the houses where rice paddy was being milled. Also in the facility were several big bags of rice paddy waiting to be milled.
Daily Sun gathered that, on the fateful night, operators of the facility had long returned to their various homes about three hours before they got distress calls concerning the fire outbreak.
The rice centre, according to the operators, closes by 6pm each day. In their schedule of activities, the milling machines commence operation from 9am and are all switched off at 1pm or thereabouts.
Afterwards, buying and selling of milled rice continue till 6pm before the market closes. Upon closure for the day, everybody vacates the market while security men keep watch over the facilities.
In Ebonyi, most people are farmers and they major in rice cultivation. Aside from ordinary people, some government officials also own large rice farms. To the people of the state, rice cultivation is like their culture, a way of life, and most families depend on it to survive.
Given this fact, the state government, under the administration of Chief Martin Elechi, reportedly established three state-of-the-art rice mills in the three senatorial districts, Ikwo (Central), Iboko (North) and Oso Edda (South), to add to the existing privately-owned Abakaliki Rice Mill.
Located along the popular Ogoja Road in the state capital, the Abakaliki Rice Mill is a beehive of activities, as, on a daily basis, hundreds of people, including merchants, throng the facility for one business or the other.
So, when the news broke about the inferno and the havoc it caused, the shock waves and pains were felt across the state capital. The pain was much more for the victims, numbering about 100.
When Daily Sun visited the scene of the fire disaster, many of the victims and their sympathisers gathered in groups and discussed in hushed tones over their loss. They were moody and visibly traumatised.
At least five machines of different brands and functions were completely razed. Several bags of paddy were burnt, even as the roof, windows, and the walls, among others, were damaged.
Some of the victims who spoke to Daily Sun lamented that the inferno has made life more difficult for them as they lost most of their properties in their on-going war with the Ukelle people of Cross River State, even as they have deserted their community.
One of the victims, Mrs. Nwite Josephine, from Ngijiora Onunwakpu, in Izzi, said she and other victims had brought some of their belongings and rice paddy to the rice mill only to end up losing all in the fire outbreak.
The 55-year-old woman said that her people have deserted their community because of the war with the Ukelle people of Cross River State and fled to other neighbouring communities for refuge.
“We have children to feed, school fees to pay, and other expenses as well. This fire has destroyed our source of livelihood and we need help right now. We lost so much to the war and we have just lost what remained to the fire.
“If you estimate everything I lost to this fire incident, it is worth about N350,000. Right now, we don’t have money to (buy food) tonight. We don’t even have transport fare. I have 14 children to cater to. I took a loan to cultivate this rice,” she lamented.
Another victim, Mr. Augustine Aka, from Igbeagu community, said that he kept his paddy in the mill and left because it was not yet his turn, only to return to behold the ashes.
“Personally, I lost seven bags to the fire disaster, and, if sold after milling, I could have got about N300,000. My community is not at war but I have some refugees in my house from the communities that are fighting. I feed them too.
“I have 15 people in my house now. Ten of them are my children. My wife and I and the remaining that joined us make it 15.
“This thing pains me more because most of the people affected are widows and very poor people. There were also people who ran away from their communities because of inter-communal war,” he said.
One of the three persons that own the machines, Chief Godwin Oburu, disclosed that the officials stopped the engines by 2pm on the fateful day but continued selling the milled rice. He said that the facility closed shop by 6pm.
Oburu, who hails from Inyimagu Onuebonyi in Abakaliki Local Government Area, said he sent some persons to the facility immediately he received distress calls when the inferno started. But he regretted that the situation could not be salvaged.
“We sent some persons immediately and, upon arrival, they noticed that it was only our mill that was on fire. Fire service was contacted but, by the time the firefighters arrived, the fire had done severe damage. Five milling machines, hauler, rice, parts of the roof and other valuables were razed.
“I don’t know what could possibly have caused the fire outbreak. It happened at night and, therefore, you may not accuse anybody of being responsible for it because you did not see anyone.
“We ensure proper clean-up of this place and there is no way fire could break out here. We are suspect that somebody set our workplace on fire out of wickedness,” he said.
Corroborating his business partner, another owner of the machines, Mr. Oyibe George, otherwise known as Organ, said that the source of the fire could not be ascertained: “We became more confused after we checked for possible source of the fire outbreak without seeing one. This place is not electrified. The entire rice mill has no electricity. So, one cannot say the fire was from electricity.
“Each of the milling machines costs about N10 million. That is, a brand new one. Five of them cost N50 million. That is for the engine alone. The burnt rice could be estimated to be N20 million. The roof and the walls would cost about N50 million to rebuild,” he said.
The victims have appealed to the state and federal governments to come to their aid.
