Fire guts journalist house in Ondo

The residence of the Ondo town correspondent of The Ondo state government owned Hope Newspaper, Mr. Victor Akinkuolie was recently gutted by fire.

The Burnt property of Mr. Akinkuolie

Although, the cause of the early morning inferno is yet to be unraveled, the incident however brought in its wake several damages to property and  personal effects of the journalist which he estimated above half a million naira.

Narrating the incident to the Journalist, Akinkuolie said “I   left home at about 7.30 am. , I  first went  to the newspapers stand at Barrack’s road in the town  to collect the complimentary copy of Friday’s edition of our newspaper before moving  to cover an assignment for which I have been invited  a day before  by the Federation of Ondo Ekimogun Students Union ( FOESU).

“It was while I was in the taxi conveying me to the venue of the event that my cell phone rang and when I looked into  it to ascertain the identity of the  caller, I found out that it was the daughter of my landlady who called. Although, I tried to get across to her, the message from her end was not too audible for me to hear”.

“However, no sooner after this, I received another call from a friend who informed me about the incident urging me to come home quickly. Consequently, I raced down to the house possibly to salvage my property  from the fire and to  ascertain the extent of damage but when I arrived in the house,  I discovered that virtually all the  property which I have laboured for all my life including  my  personal effects and several  important documents have been consumed by the ravaging fire” Akinkuolie said..

When Journalist arrived at the house, sympathisers were seen trying to put off the fire whose smoke was billowing from the self-contained apartment. Several items which include large copies of complimentary editions of The Hope newspapers, laptop, desktop computer, television set, shoes and other personal effects were completely burnt while traces of black smoke could be seen on the wall and the ceiling of the house.

The Police at the Yaba Divisional Police station in Ondo town later visited the scene of the incident. The team led by the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) in charge of the station, Mr. Peter Olaniyi Egunbiyi have inspected the burnt apartment and stated that the report of the incident will be conveyed to the necessary authority at the state police command headquarters for appropriate action.