Block A of the 20-room female postgraduate hostel on the University of Benin’s (UNIBEN) Ekehuan Campus in Benin, Edo State has been destroyed by fire.
No one died.
According to eyewitnesses, an electric spark in one of the rooms caused the flames, which swiftly spread to the other rooms due to plywood used as a line of demarcation.
The electricity spark, according to students in the postgraduate hostel, has long been a source of worry. They also noted that they have brought various electrical defects to the hostel porters’ attention.
Three firefighters, according to a student named Okoh Cynthia, arrived to put out the blaze as it spread to the building’s bottom floor.
Another student and an occupant in Block A, Stella Osagie said she was depressed as she lost her iPhone XR worth over N200,000 and her laptop worth N250,000.
Martha Henry, also an occupant at the PG Block A, said her money, school credentials, and project works were burnt to ashes.
