Warri: I was sleeping when the fire broke out, Octogenarian narrates

An Octogenarian, Mama Esther Okelezo, says she was asleep when the fire that gutted her house, eight other rooms and a church building at Ale, Off Market Road, Warri in Delta State, occurred in the wee hours of Saturday February 13.

Fresh Angle International can report that Mama Okelezo, a mother of four, who lives alone, suffered first degree burns at her two arms and back.

She narrated her ordeal in Isoko Language to a delegation of Warri South Local Government Council, who visited her at Word of Life Bible Church Clinic in Warri, Tuesday February 16.

The Warri South Council delegation comprising of Treasurer to the Local Government, Mr. Ugborugbo Moses, an Assistant Director of Administration, Mr. Geoffrey Anamali, the HOD Environment, Mrs. Stella Mode and Mr. Ebule Metsese, the Council’s Chief Information Officer, had visited the scene of the inferno for on-the-spot assessment of the damage caused by the fire.

Delegation of Warri South Local Government Council at the scene. Ebule Metsese (left) Mr. Ugborugbo Moses (2^nd left) Mr. Geoffrey Anamali (4^th left) Mrs. Stella Mode (3^rd right)  Goodluck Ukenye  (2^nd right) & others

One of the victims, Goodluck Ukenye, whose wife just delivered of a baby, told the Warri South Council delegation that the fire started from Mama Okelezo’s room, saying she raised alarm about the fire to alert other neighbours.

According to Ukenye, nine families and a church building, were completely razed by the inferno, adding that the cause was still unknown as at press time.

Wreckage of the burnt buildings

Some residents of the area, stated that if there had been quick response from the fire service, the nine clustered wooden-room apartments and the church hall, would not have been completely burnt.

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