Inferno Destroys Ebonyi Home, Widower Saved

A devastating late-night inferno has tragically reduced a six-room apartment, valued at over N40 million, to ashes in the Nchoko area of Izzi Local Government Area, Ebonyi State. The blaze left Mr. Michael Emeliike, a physically challenged widower, and his children traumatized and homeless after they narrowly escaped death.

The catastrophic fire erupted suddenly around 10 p.m. on November 3, striking without warning while the hard-of-hearing widower was asleep inside the building.

The mystery surrounding the blaze has led eyewitnesses and family members to immediately suspect foul play, raising serious accusations of deliberate arson within the community.

Mr. Emeliike recounted the terrifying moments he was abruptly awakened by loud banging on his window. When he opened the door, he was quickly dragged to safety by two unidentified men just as the roof and ceiling of the structure began to collapse.

“Had it been that the fire blocked the entrance, I would have been a dead man by now,” he stated, showing visible bruises on his knees sustained during the desperate rescue effort.

His son, Monday, who had stepped out briefly, returned to the scene to find the flames spreading rapidly across the roof. All attempts by him and neighbors to salvage any belongings proved futile against the intense heat.

“Nothing was removed. Everything, including clothes, foodstuff, fridge, TV, bed, is gone,” Monday lamented, watching as neighbors searched through the smoldering debris of their former home.

The destroyed building, which was constructed just three years ago by Mr. Emeliike and his late wife, is now nothing but a heap of ashes, symbolizing the family’s sudden loss.

Eyewitnesses and relatives have vehemently insisted that the fire could not have been accidental.

Mr. Stanley Nwoga, the family’s in-law and Director of Works in Abakaliki, dismissed any suggestion of an electrical fault, stating: “There was no electricity. NEPA had disconnected them because they couldn’t pay their bill.”

“This is not a power surge. Somebody came here and set this building ablaze,” Nwoga alleged, adding that markings inside the rooms suggested that something highly inflammable may have been poured before the fire ignited.

Joseph Nwedu, a neighbor and one of the first responders, described his desperate effort to break through an iron door to rescue Mr. Emeliike. “If I didn’t break that door, we would be talking about recovering a dead body today,” he asserted.

With no shelter remaining, the displaced family is now forced to sleep inside a small poultry structure that previously housed chickens. Mr. Emeliike called for urgent intervention, tearfully describing the current state of “Mosquitoes, heat, suffering—this is where we sleep now.”

Reverend Remy Olukamma described the fire as “wickedness of the highest order,” dismissing electricity, gas, or candles as the cause. “We perceive evil hands behind this,” he stated, highlighting the vulnerability of the disabled father and his suddenly homeless children.

The Reverend also appealed for the decentralization of fire service stations across Ebonyi State, arguing that the long distance from Abakaliki makes any quick response to rural emergencies impossible.

The family is urgently appealing to the Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Ebonyi State Government, NGOs, churches, and private individuals for immediate assistance.

“I don’t have anything to rebuild this house,” Mr. Emeliike cried. “We are begging the government to intervene in our problem.” As investigations into the mysterious blaze continue, tension persists in the Nchoko community, where residents fear the fire may have been a deliberate attack, prompting renewed calls for vigilance and stronger local security measures.