A fire outbreak has destroyed a business unit at the Technology Incubation Centre in Minna, leaving entrepreneur Mrs Ogochukwu Tosin Juliana reeling from losses estimated at N20 million.
Mrs Juliana, after several calls, arrived at the scene to find her workspace reduced to ashes.
Narrating her ordeal, she said, “When I woke up this morning, I saw a series of missed calls from the incubation center. I called and asked what was happening. They told me there was a fire outbreak in my unit. I dressed up and rushed to the center.”
“Upon reaching here, I discovered everything in my unit was burnt to ashes in the early hours of today. Nothing could be rescued due to the late arrival of the fire service.”
She explained that all her appliances, equipment, and production machines used for producing kuli-kuli, known as groundnut biscuits, worth nearly N20 million, were destroyed.
“I had a production worth N2 million meant for distribution this week, all lost in the fire,” Mrs Juliana lamented.
She then appealed to the Niger State government and the management of the incubation center to assist her in rebuilding her business.
Reacting to the incident, Engr Nathaniel Kojoko, a staff member in the center’s technical department, confirmed the fire incident and revealed that the fire was contained within the unit and did not spread to other areas.
According to him, “Preliminary investigations suggest an electrical spark may have ignited the inferno.”
Also, Shittu Ladan, a security officer at the center, criticized the slow response of the fire service, saying that initially, the Federal Fire Service was called upon to help put out the fire, but the officers declined, stating that it was out of their jurisdiction.
“We called on the Federal Fire Service, but they claimed it was out of their jurisdiction.”
“It was only after calling the state fire service that the fire was put out. However, the damage was already done,” Ladan disclosed.
