Ekun Samuel, 17 October 2016
An ill fated and unfortunate incident occurred on Saturday at the NIIT area of Tombia in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, killing Ex-Commisioner of Bayelsa State, his Son and girlfriend.
Current Chairman of the Bayelsa State Board of Internal Revenue, stated the cause of a fire outbreak, which burnt and killed Ex-Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development of Bayelsa state(Chief Nimibofa Ayawei), his Son(Mr. Mientei Ayawei) and his girlfriend 'Happiness'. The fire which he stated was caused by a high electricty voltage.
The fire started at about 4:00am according to a source close to the family on anonymity, as he was not authorised to comment on the incident, said the high voltage, which allegedly sparked fire through electric extension.
According to him, the fire started in the room where Mientei and his girlfriend were. And the fire which escalated razed nearly all the rooms and property in the one-storey building, adjacent a filling station owned by the former commissioner.
The source, who claimed to be a sibling of the victim (Mientei), said when the fire allegedly started, both Mientei and Happiness were sleeping.
He said the deceased got knowledge of the fire when the whole room they were in had already been enveloped by smoke and furnace.
He said on that day, there were two other persons who were in another room in the house, but they managed to escape death by a whisker.
He said Mientei, 25, had just finished his degree programme in Human Resources Management, from a university in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The presence of the firefighters, were, however, said to have saved other buildings in the neighbourhood, including a filling station, Dannielo Pulo, from being consumed.
Spokesman for the State Police Command 'Asinim Butswat,' when contacted, confirmed the incident and fire outbreak, saying the police responded to the distress call quickly. He further said, he had not been fully briefed on the casualty figure. And he has promised to make further contact with the Divisional Police Officer of the division to ascertain if the fire caused any deaths.
The fire fighters were reported to have arrived at the scene late to put a halt to already devastating fire outbreak. Although they were reported to have done their best extinguish the fire, noting that their efforts were commendable.
