2,000 dead, 5,000 rendered homeless in Akwa Ibom fire

It's a black day for the people of Iwoukpom community in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom after a fire accident in the early hours of Friday claimed about 2000 lives, leaving 5000 people homeless.

TheNation revealed that the large fatality recorded was because most of the buildings were constructed with wood, while fishing equipment and fishes were also said to have been burnt.

Properties worth millions have been destroyed in the fishing community mostly occupied by Yoruba fishermen.

Mrs. Idongesit Udoh, a mother of three children was crying that she could not pick a pin before the inferno rendered her homeless.

“The entire building was razed completely and I could not pick a pin in the house,” she lamented.

She called on the State Government, spirited individuals, multinational companies and NGOs to come to their rescue, lamenting that she does not have a roof over her head anymore.

Udoh called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide relief materials to the affected victims to ameliorate their suffering.

Hon. Sunday Isokobo, Vice-Chairman, Ibeno local government area described the inferno as a “serious disaster”, saying nobody could salvage anything.

“About 1 am this morning, I received a call from my brothers and sisters living in this fishing settlement at Iwoukpom, that there is a very serious fire disaster taking place here.

“We will give them relief materials to start with and think of permanent ways of giving them back hope, especially the fishermen who had lost their livelihood to the inferno.

“It is a pity that the inferno also affected my father’s house, I am begging government, donor agencies, international communities, oil companies to come to their aid,” Isokobo appealed.

The leader of the Yoruba community, Mr Foli Ogungbemi, Special Adviser to the Chairman of Ibeno on non-indigenes, said the place was mostly occupied by Yoruba people.

He said that when the incident happened the people were running for their safety and none could really know the root cause of the inferno.

Ogungbemi explained that Iwuokpum is highly populated with Yoruba indigenes and the economic hub of Ibeno.