By Efa Sunday and Duke Igebu
Mr. Matthew Edet-Okon, an ex-youth corp member residing along Goldie street in Calabar, the Cross River state capital is currently at loss after his apartment was razed down in the early hours of Thursday.
The 30 year old is said to have lost his certificates and all properties in the inferno which he told CrossRiverWatch occurred between midnight and 1:00AM.
“It all happened very early this morning (Thursday), I was sleeping, then around 12:00am and 1:00 am, I woke up and discovered that my room is on fire. I don’t know what caused it but I think it was due to high voltage of light supplied in this area. It was the explosion of my electronics that woke me up and as you can see some part of my body has been burnt, including my mobile phone,” Edet-Okon told CrossRiverWatch.
He lamented his condition and claimed to have been facing a harsh situation since he completed his service year in November 2018 due to his inability to secure any means of employment.
According to him, he could not reach out to fire service as his phone had been destroyed by fire and despite his cries and appeals, no one was able to reach the State’s firefighting department.
He however appealed to the Cross River State government and well-meaning Nigerians to assist him in paying for some bills including his rent which he said he has, “not being able to renew.”
As at the time of filing this report, Mr. Matthew Edet-Okon has not received any form of treatment from any health facility around.
The inferno comes less than a month after a 10 room apartment was razed in similar circumstances in Obudu local government area on Christmas day 2018.
The building, located just after the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress is said to have belonged to the late Mr. Adie Ishawa of Atiekpe community with many blaming faulty connections for the inferno.
It will be recalled that the Cross River State Fire Service Department had in August 2018, embarked on a sensitisation campaign to educate Cross Riverians on pro-active measures to guide against fire outbreaks in homes and business environment, part of which they stated was, “to have fire extinguisher handy and to always switch off all electrical appliances when not in use.”
