A late-night inferno has razed a six-room apartment in Nchoko, Ndechi community of Izzi Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, leaving a widower, Mr. Michael Emerike, and his children homeless and traumatized. The incident occurred at about 10 p.m. on November 3, when two unidentified men reportedly banged on Mr. Emenike’s window, waking him from sleep moments before flames engulfed the building.
According to Mr. Emerike, who is physically challenged and hard of hearing, he opened the door only to be confronted by two men who forcefully pulled him outside as the roof and ceiling began to collapse behind him.
“Had it been the fire blocked the entrance, I would have been a dead man by now,” he recounted, showing bruises on his knees sustained during the rescue.
His son, Monday, had moments earlier stepped out to buy something when he saw flames spreading across the roof. All efforts to salvage the family’s belongings failed.
“Nothing was removed. Everything including clothes, food, fridge, TV, bed—everything is gone,” Monday said.
Relatives, eyewitnesses, and community members strongly suspect arson.
Mr. Stanley Nwoga, the family’s in-law and Director of Works in Abakaliki, stated: “There was no electricity. NEPA disconnected them because they could not pay their bill. This is not a power surge. Somebody came here and set this building ablaze.”
He added that signs observed in the rooms suggest something flammable might have been poured inside the house before it ignited.
Joseph Nwedu, a civil servant and first responder, confirmed rescuing the victim by breaking through an iron door: “If I didn’t break that door, we would be talking about recovering a dead body today.”
The destroyed building, constructed three years ago by Mr. Emerike and his late wife, was valued at over ₦40 million. No item was salvaged.
Today, the family is living inside a small poultry house where chickens were formerly kept.
“Mosquitoes, heat, suffering—this is where we sleep now,” the grieving father lamented.
The village reverberates with calls for urgent help.
Reverend Remy Olukamma described the incident as “wickedness of the highest order,” insisting that neither gas, candle, nor electrical faults were responsible.
“We perceive evil hands behind this. The family is homeless, the father is disabled, and the children have nowhere to lay their heads," he said.
He also appealed for decentralizing fire service units across Ebonyi North, Central, and South, arguing that response time from Abakaliki is too slow to save rural homes.
The displaced family is pleading for help from Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ebonyi State Government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and well-meaning Nigerians.
“I don’t have anything to rebuild this house,” Mr. Emerike repeated tearfully, adding that: “We are begging the government to intervene in our problem.”
As investigations continue, the mystery surrounding the fire and the possibility of targeted arson has left the community on edge, calling for strengthened security and vigilance.
