A prominent commercial transport company, based in Aba, Abia State, has incurred significant losses due to a fire incident at their head office situated on the well-known Milverton Housing Road.
The damage runs into millions of naira.
The fire incident was said to have been caused by a spark from a generating set, which exploded and splashed Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) on other parts of the building which escalated the situation.
The Operations Manager of the company, Mr. Ikechukwu Nwosu while confirming that the fire started from their plant house, said the fire started when they noticed a spark as one of their staff had gone to switch on their generating set to enable them to pump water in the facility.
Nwosu said the level of damage cannot be quantified and appealed to the government to come to their aid saying that the loss was monumental.
He further disclosed that four cars; a private SUV belonging to his boss, two luxury buses undergoing repairs, one delivery van, three dispatch motorcycles, four generating sets, and among other important documents including customer’s received, and yet-to-be waybilled items were engulfed in the inferno.
He thanked the men of the Abia State Fire Service, the Aba Areas Commander of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and others who ensured that the fire was put off and security of other properties was saved.
Meanwhile, speaking during an on-the-spot visit to the company to see the extent of damage, Governor Alex Otti said the crowded nature of the park was a recipe for disaster.
Otti further stated that the government would look at other parks at Osisioma and Port-Harcourt Road with more space to move some of the vehicles at Milverton Avenue there.
Also speaking, the Mayor of Aba South, Chief Uche Nwogu described the incident as most unfortunate but thanked God that no life was lost, “We thank God that no life was lost. We thank God that Abia is working. We thank God that we have a Governor who is very sensitive to the plight of the people. “The Fire Service is working. The day was saved by the Fire Service. So it is unfortunate that in a small place like this, we have a diesel dump which might have aggravated the fire incident.”
