Midnight fire engulfs Ondo chemical factory
Equipment and chemicals as well as other valuable products worth millions of naira were destroyed on Friday night in a chemical company, Megadot Nigeria Limited, located in the Ondo state Trade Fair complex, Akure, the Ondo state capital.
According to the company, house chemicals used for production of paints, wood finishes, thinner lacquer and other chemical products went up in flames in the inferno that started at about 10 pm.
It was learnt that the fire might have been triggered by electric surge.
An eyewitness, Mr. Kolawole Bello, said the high voltage supplied by the electricity company may have resulted in the inferno, saying the timely response of fire service officials prevented the entire trade fair complex from burning.
Speaking to journalists, the owner of the company, Mr. Bisi Ogungbemi, said he received a call from the factory and called the fire service men who promptly responded to the distress call.
He said, “The damage has been done but the fire service men were able to curtail the fire from spreading to other areas. They came with two vans and had to reload again to put things under control.
Ogungbemi who was in tears said the company had just received new order worth about N50m, blaming the incident on the power surge. He however appealed to government to come to his aid.
He said, “This is our only source of livelihood and we have about 20 able men working here with us. We want to appeal to the state government to look into our plight and help us.
“We don’t want to send these men to unemployment market again. I am calling on the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, to help us financially.
“The state commissioner for works and the Chief of staff to the governor, Mr. Gbenga Ale , had visited the scene of the incident and we hope they will help to table our plight before the governor”
The state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Taofeek Abdulsaalam, who visited the scene of the incident said that preliminary investigation into the incident indicated that the fire outbreak was caused by power surge.