N50m worth of goods belonging to a businessman, Nobertgreat Atulaegwu have been destroyed by an early morning fire incident in Aba, Abia State.
The incident happened at Market Crescent by Umuode road, near Ariara international market when the building housing the warehouse went up in flames.
The owner of the burnt goods, Mr Nobertgreat Atulaegwu who narrated his sorrows to newsmen, said containers loads of kitchen utensils he imported for the seasonal sales were consumed by the fire.
The victim who described the incident as strange, ruled out electrical fault as the cause of the fire.
According to him, ” All our electrical appliances in the warehouse was switched off after the end of the previous day’s sales. So, it baffles me how the fire started.
He equally lamented that he sourced money from financial institutions to buy the burnt goods.
Also speaking, the landlord of the building, Mr Paul Ajah said that it was the the efforts of men of Abia State Fire Service and other sympathizers in the area that prevented the inferno from spreading to nearby houses.
Also, Aba area commander of Abia State Fire Service, Mr Belenta A.Belenta who spoke on the incident, said his men on arrival at the scene, were able to extinguish the flames, adding that other buildings would have been affected if not for the Fire Service efforts.
He noted that harmattan wind could have played a role in the rapid manner the warehouse got consumed, while warning Aba residents to always prevent fire outbreak.
Meanwhile, a High Court building in Oboro, Ikwuano LGA of Abia State has been gutted by mid-morning fire incident.
During the fire incident, some important files, tables, chairs were destroyed, though, Court officials on duty were able to salvage a few property.
The roof of the building was also burnt by the fire.
It was not established how and where the fire started, but an official of the council who pleaded anonymity, said it was caused by electrical fault from one of the offices.
Lawyers and litigants who were sitting or arriving the Court building, took to their heals as the fire raged.
Men of Abia State Fire Service were alleged to have claimed that there was no diesel to transport their fire truck to quench the fire.
Abia State Director of Fire Service, Mr Arua Nnanna was not in office in Umuahia to respond to the allegations, when the reporter visited.
