20th December, 2011
An early morning fire on Monday gutted the building housing the chairman of the Enugu State council of NUJ, Mr Rockefeller Ogboso.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the scene reports that the first floor of the two-storey building located at No. 15, Kenyatta St., Uwani, was razed by the inferno which started about midnight.
Narrating his experience to NAN on Monday, the NUJ chairman said he was woken by an explosion, adding that by the time he came out of bed, the house was already covered with smoke.
“I was asleep. I suddenly heard a very strange sound in the parlour. It was the sound that woke me up. As I was moving into the parlour, I saw hell in my parlour because the entire parlour was filled with smoke and fire.
“So I turned back and started calling all the members of my family and everybody woke up. There was no way we could pass through the main door, and the two doors that lead to the balcony and the staircase were completely blocked with smoke and fire.
“So, now we had to look for alternatives.”
He said that with the help and encouragement of neighbours who provided foams, they jumped to the ground, sustaining injuries.
Ogboso said men of the fire service came after an hour and succeeded in preventing the fire from spreading to other flats as the two flats on the second floor were badly affected.
“I lost everything I had. My certificates and my property are destroyed. I cannot communicate with anybody as my phones were also affected.â€
The NUJ chairman said he suspected power surge when electricity was restored to the house as there was no light when they went to bed.
He thanked the neighbours and the state fire service for helping to save lives.