Abuja: Fire razes properties worth millions in Utako

Property worth millions of naira were razed in a fire incident at a residential building belonging to a retired Army Major, Chief F. A. Alimikhena at No.14, S.O. Williams Street, Utako District, Abuja. The fire which started at about 1.50pm on Sunday completely razed the two storey building which has three bedroom apartments on each floor. Alimikhena who does not reside in the building but was present while the fire raged could not hold back the tears which flowed freely as he watched the fire damage to the property. Ms Linda Alimikhena who resides in the building and was at home when the fire started, explained that she was in her apartment on the ground floor of the building when she heard knocks on her door, followed by screamed by her neighbour, informing her that there was fire upstairs. “We have not had electric power supply from the power company for over one month now and a woman upstairs was using her power generating when it sparked and ignited the fire. She ran downstairs with her children to call for help but before help could come, the fire had spread around the house. “The three rooms upstairs and the property inside were completely razed by the fire and two rooms on the middle floor were also completely burnt. The two rooms that got burnt belong to a woman, an employee of ECOWAS,” she narrated. Attempts to speak with the owner of the building proved abortive, as journalists were prevented by military personnel. It took over two hours before fire-fighters from the FCT Fire Service and the Judicial Institute to contain the raging inferno. While some onlookers expressed dissatisfaction with the fire-fighters’ supposed slow response to the incident, a resident of the building, who identified herself as Mitchell, described their response as satisfactory. “They did a wonderful job,” she said. No human casualties were recorded in the incident.