How I Lost My House, Three Shops, and Over N11 Million to Fire within One Year – Businesswoman

A devastating fire incident at the Police Barracks in Omolewa, Yemetu, Ibadan, has left Mrs. Rabiatu Kingsley, a local businesswoman and wife of a police officer, counting her losses after her home and three shops were razed, destroying goods worth over N11 million.

When newsmen visited the scene, a distraught Rabiatu, flanked by her children, appeared overwhelmed as she recounted the sequence of misfortunes that have upended her life. According to her, this marks the second fire disaster she has experienced in less than a year, the first having destroyed her private residence near the Yemetu Police Station late last year. Since then, she has been living in a rented self-contained apartment.

The latest tragedy occurred in the early hours of the morning, consuming 15 shops, including the three she operated. Among the destroyed goods were school bags, shoes, ladies’ fashion items, household provisions, and perishables stored in multiple freezers. She revealed that everything was lost in the fire and there was nothing left to salvage.

In a particularly harrowing account, Rabiatu mentioned a fellow tenant, a tailor, who narrowly escaped death. The tailor had been working overnight in his shop after purchasing a high-end sewing machine valued at over N7 million. He was reportedly unaware of the fire until neighbours heard his cries and dragged him to safety, just as he was beginning to suffocate from the thick smoke.

While eyewitnesses attributed the fire to a spark from a nearby electric pole, officials later claimed that a deep freezer had triggered the blaze. Regardless of the cause, the aftermath was total destruction, and the site had by afternoon become a hotspot for scavengers rummaging through the debris for any remaining valuables.

Rabiatu expressed disappointment over the limited support she received after her home was earlier gutted by fire, noting that all she got from the Police Officers Wives Association (POWA) was a mattress. She said she has now placed her hope solely in God.

“I have lost everything again. My three shops were full of goods—provisions, stock fish, curry, and other ingredients. All of it is gone,” she said with tears in her eyes.