A fire outbreak has destroyed property worth hundreds of millions of naira at Block 5, Centenary City, Ministry of Health, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
The incident gutted a cold store used for immunisation and solar systems, destroying vaccines, vaccine carriers, cold chain boxes, laptops, documents, five refrigerators, two solar refrigerators, 45 solar batteries, and inverters. Hospital beds and foams supplied by the National Primary Health Care Development Authority (NPHCDA) for distribution to MAMII LGAs were also lost.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Moses Ekuma, described the scale of the damage as devastating, while expressing relief that no lives were lost. He commended the Commissioner for Power and Energy, fire officers, and security personnel for their swift response, which prevented the fire from spreading further.
“Different vaccines like BCG, Penta, the HPV vaccine, etc. that were all stored in that cold room were burnt,” he said.
Ekuma noted that the cause of the fire remains unknown, adding that the facility had been without public power supply for about five days. He explained that the solar backup system was also not functional, prompting officials to invite EEDC to restore electricity a day before the incident.
He announced the setting up of a committee to investigate the cause of the fire and prevent a recurrence, while directing that new office spaces be allocated to staff of the Immunisation Unit.
The commissioner added that the incident has significantly disrupted immunisation operations, noting that experts would assess the full extent of structural damage to the building.
The Officer in Charge of Operations at the Ebonyi State Fire Service, Mr Frank Oka Ota, said his team received a distress call at about 5:18 a.m. and responded immediately. He explained that the fire had already intensified before their arrival, but efforts were made to contain it and prevent further spread.
He also appreciated Governor Francis Nwifuru for providing new firefighting trucks, which aided their response, and called for more personnel to strengthen the service.
