A middle aged woman with four month old pregnancy and her two year old daughter were penultimate Saturday burnt to death in an early night inferno which gutted the house they were living in.
The incident which occurred at Umunzodo village, Umuonwuna Ubachima, Awo-Omamma in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo State had thrown the entire village into confusion and deep mourning.
The fire which the cause was unknown was said to have started at about 10pm that fateful night.
However, suspicion was rife that the lantern they had lit before they went to bed might have overflowed and some items in the room caught fire.
Aided by the harmatan dry wind and fuel from ladies motorcycle parked inside one of the rooms, the fire quickly spread to other rooms razing down the whole house.
Another occupant of the house who was said to be a nurse trainee in one of the hospitals in the town had escaped unhurt with her visitor friend when she perceived that the house had been engulfed by fire.
However, her inability to raise an alarm which would have attracted people living nearby had elicited a spate of criticism.
The victim, Mrs. Nkechi Amajuoyi and her husband, Mr. Benedict Amajuoyi who are natives of Awa in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State were living in the house as tenants.
Mr. Amajuoyi is a staff of Consolidated Breweries, Awo-Omamma.
Mr. Amajuoyi who fought hard to hold back tears, said that he had returned home from the day’s work at about 8pm that fateful night and had after supper decided to rest outside (few meters from the house) on a bench.
He said he fell asleep unaware of the raging fire only to be woken up when he heard shouts of his name probably by the wife inside the burning house.
He ran to the room where his wife and daughter were sleeping only to find out that the inferno had covered everywhere and there was nothing he could do.
He raised alarm which attracted many people and the battle to put out the fire ensued.
However, all efforts to quench the raging inferno proved abortive.
The man in an emotion laden voice lamented that he had lost everything, his pregnant wife, daughter and properties.
The head of the Ojinaka family where the incident occurred, Pastor Hyginus Ojinaka bemoaned the fire incident but however thanked God that the husband of the woman was not a victim even when he was at home.
“Imagine what it would have looked like if the woman, her daughter and husband were all burnt to death in the inferno. Would it have been easy for our family to extricate its name from the mire it would have been dragged through by the incident” – the soft speaking cleric asked rhetorically.
Pastor Ojinaka who is a pastor in the Watchman Catholic Renewal Church and an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) called on the government to come to the aid of the people who lost one thing or the other in the fire incident.
He advised people to be cautious with anything that have to do with fire as the harmattan is still a time of high fire incidence.
A community leader, Chief Dr. K.N. Nwakpara (aka stand One Million) expressed shock over the incident. The incident, he said, had thrown the entire community into mourning and sympathized with the victim’s husband, Mr. Amajuoyi.
When we visited the scene of the incident, many sympathizers and relations of the victims were seen wailing and bemoaning the incident.
courtesy: Nigeria Newspoint
