By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
IT’S another tragic case of affliction arising a second time in four years in the oil-rich of Warri! While Nigerians are still struggling to recover from the heavy expenses of the festive season, misfortune struck some furniture dealers and shop owners along Oki Street in Warri, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, as an overnight fire razed several shops, destroying goods worth millions of naira.
The devastated scene
When Stonix News reporter in Warri visited the scene early Wednesday morning, the once-busy stretch of shops had been reduced to a field of ashes and twisted remains. Smoke still rose from smouldering debris, while flames continued to lick at some leftover items that had escaped total destruction.
What stood there before the fire as shops stocked with elegant household furniture, had become completely unrecognisable. Without prior knowledge of the businesses that once operated there, no one could have guessed what the shop owners dealt in, as nothing identifiable remained.
The ruins Photos: Rita Enemuru
A visit to the scene showed passers-by standing in silence, sympathy written clearly on their faces for traders who had lost not just goods worth millions of naira overnight, but their means of survival and hope for the future.
The location, once vibrant with neatly arranged wardrobes, beds, chairs and tables, was left with nothing but scraps. Scrap dealers, wasting no time, hovered around the ruins, attempting to salvage whatever little remained of value.
The ruins
The shop owners themselves stood scattered around the area, moving from one spot to another, hands in pockets or folded across their chests, with sad expressions trying to understand how misfortune could strike them again, despite the saying that affliction does not rise a second time.
Speaking with them, Stonix News learnt that this was the second time they were losing millions of naira to a fire outbreak. According to them, the first incident occurred in January 2022, making the latest disaster an exact repeat four years later.
So there they stood, hands in pockets and arms akimbo looking hopeless and lost for the second time in four years.
Mr Lucky Bezi
Speaking with one Mr Lucky Bezi, a father of four and the sole provider for his family, he narrated how he was awakened from sleep at about 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday by calls informing him that his shop had been engulfed by fire. He explained that he could not immediately rush to the scene because he had no car and lived far away.
Mr Lucky said that by the time he eventually arrived at his shop, everything had been completely destroyed, with goods worth about N15 million gone overnight.
He said: “I’m a shop owner here. I received a call from someone in this around at about 3:00am telling me that my shop has gone down as a result of a fire outbreak. I was like fire again? Because it has happened before. It happened on the 27th of January, 2022 before it happened again on the 28th of January, 2024, exactly four years later. I couldn’t come out by that time because I had no car and I live far away, there was no way for me to trek down around that time.
The ruins
“I came here at about 6:00a.m and met an empty space. Where my shop was located had burnt down completely. I know the things in my shop. I had set of chairs, industrial machine because it’s a furniture shop. All the shops here are furniture shops and everything burnt down. Goods worth over 15 million gone just like that. I don’t know what to do. I am confuse. There are about seven shops here.
He told Stonix News how heartbreaking it was to relive the experience of losing his livelihood and feeling helpless for the second time.
He explained that he and his neighbours had rebuilt their shops from scratch after the first fire incident, with some of them borrowing money to do so, as they received no help from anyone. Although government officials visited them at the time and promised assistance, he said no support ever came.
“When it happened four years ago, some government officials came, addressed us and promised to assist us but that assistance never came. We started afresh, built everything from scratch, I spent nothing less than eight million to rebuild my store before it went down again today. I borrowed money from people to start afresh before affliction decided to arise a second time. I had to borrow money because to start afresh because this is my only hope. This is what I do to take care of my family. I have children in the university and people to carter for and I don’t know how we are going to cope with this loss.
“We don’t know what caused the fire and I’m not suspecting a foul play. We are not using light neither is anyone cooking around us so we don’t know where the fire came from. I think the fire was able to spread very fast because the content of all the shops were plank and foam.
“They said the fire started around 2:00a.m and the fire service people came as soon as they were called but they were not able to save anything. You can see that a car that was parked here also burnt,” he added.
Speaking with the wife of Mr Lucky, who was visibly distraught, Mrs Hope Bezi said her husband’s shop contained five luxurious wardrobes, two sets of chairs, 12 tables, beds, among other items, but nothing remained.
“I am not doing anything. My husband is the sole provider of the home. I have four children, one is in the university. One is about to write WAEC. We don’t know where to start from. Government should please help us,” she said.
Bash Yakubu
Another shop owner, Bash Yakubu, said he lost goods worth about N10 million during the fire incident four years ago and experiencing the same loss again has left him completely hopeless.
He therefore pleaded with the government to assist him and his neighbours in any way possible to enable them rebuild their lives.
The stores before the inferno
“I am one of the owners of the shops here. We experienced this same incident about four years ago and we don’t really know what is going on here. I lost about 10 million naira worth of goods as a result of that fire incident, It has happened again and I have lost more than N10m again.
“I don’t even know where to start from again. Government should please assist us. We don’t have anywhere to run to now. We are seriously stranded. All we need is assistance from government,” he said.
Also speaking, another furniture shop owner identified as Ibrahim, popularly known as IBB Furniture, lamented similar woes.
Hear him: “That’s my brand name. We don’t really know what happened. I received the call about my shop burning this early morning only for me to rush down here. We are still surprised, trying to trace what really caused the fire but we don’t know yet. My shop burnt to ashes. This is the second time that this incident is happening. I have not been able to recover from the first time it happened. We couldn’t recover anything from our shops. Everything has been burnt to ashes. We are stranded right now. Please we need help.The goods in my shop worth over N10m that is apart from my working tools and other things. I lost everything.”
Dejected owner of the car, Mr Gima
The owner of the burnt vehicle, identified as Gima, said it was painful to lose a car that was barely a month old to the fire.
According to him, he bought the Camry car last month for N3.4 million, only for it to be destroyed in the inferno.
In conclusion, the devastating blaze on Oki Street has left a community of furniture dealers confronting not only the smouldering ruins of their businesses but the crushing repetition of a profound personal tragedy.
As the acrid scent of loss hangs in the air, the stark reality for individuals like Mr Bezi is a future shrouded in uncertainty, where rebuilding from ashes for a second time seems a near-impossible task.
Their pleas for assistance underscore a desperate need for tangible support, moving beyond past promises.
This incident serves as a grim reminder of the fragile thread by which livelihoods hang and the profound resilience required when affliction, contrary to the old adage, does indeed rise a second time.
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