It was indeed a sad incident on thursday, as the residence of the fomer chief medical director of the university of benin teaching hospital, UBTH, Proffessor Micheal ibadin went up in flames.
The fire which reportedly started at about 7.30pm consumed the top floor of the proffesor’s house destroying properties worth millions of naira, including the proff’s vital documents and certificates, but no life was lost, according to SCN
It took the intervention of the Nigerian army fire fighter to quell the fire as efforts from the Uniben(whose water finished within 5 minutes of operation) and Ubth fire fighters proved abortive.
While explaining his ordeal, proffesor ibadin said he had just returned from the office and went to turn on his generator when he noticed smoke coming out from a room.
“I immediately switched off the generator and took out my fire extinguisher to combat the fire with the help of neighbours and some security men in my house. I also immediately contacted the fire service station within the university campus, which is the closest to my house and that of the UBTH.
The response of the uniben fire service was very poor, they even ran out of water after operating for 5 minutes, he added
While still hammering on their incompetency, professor ibadin added,
“The UNIBEN fire service was the first I contacted because they are closest to my house. While they were battling to stop the fire, I called for the UBTH fire fighters, just in case they (UNIBEN) were overwhelmed.
“I think some good neighbours also called the Edo State Fire Service and the Nigerian Army Fire Service to come to my rescue. But nothing much was done.”
He said,
“I lost everything I ever worked for in life, including my certificates and other vital documents and my clothes. I could not remove anything from my rooms, not even my telephone set.
“Everything was completely burnt down. My entire three bedrooms were not spared in the fire outbreak, but I thank God no life was lost.
He also disclosed that his wife lost close to N2m in the fire that engulfed her bedroom in the house.
“I did not have much cash in my room; the best I would have in my room is, maybe, N10,000. The loss was mainly my documents, books. He said