A tragic incident unfolded in Ebonyi State as a fierce fire consumed one of the Magistrate Courts located within the State Judiciary Complex. The catastrophic event took place in the early hours of Thursday, engulfing the court in flames and reducing it to ashes along with essential documents and exhibits.
Vanguard’s investigation revealed that the fire outbreak occurred around midnight, leaving the affected court in ruins. Confiscated properties of law offenders, which were stored within the court premises, also fell victim to the devastating flames.
A Magistrate, who requested anonymity, accompanied Vanguard on a tour of the burnt building, sharing the harrowing experience. According to the Magistrate, he and several staff members from the nearby State High Court were abruptly awakened by the inferno. Immediate efforts were made to combat the fire using fire extinguishers. However, instead of containing the blaze, one of the extinguishers seemed to intensify it, escalating the situation further.
“Our security men had fled by that time. We contacted the state fire service, and they arrived to assist us in extinguishing the fire. However, before their arrival, we had already depleted our fire extinguishers,” the Magistrate explained.
Nnenna Onuoha, the Chief Registrar of the State High Court, confirmed the distressing incident and provided an estimate of the damages incurred. She stated that the destruction caused by the fire amounts to approximately N40 million.
“On the early hours of June, specifically on the 3rd of June, we received distress calls from residents of the magistrate quarters that our court was ablaze. We rushed to the scene and discovered that the fire had indeed ravaged the court. We began investigating the cause of the incident, and reports indicated that the fire originated from the transformer,” Onuoha disclosed.
Firefighters from the Ebonyi State Fire Service were summoned to the scene and worked diligently to extinguish the flames. Unfortunately, the building suffered extensive damage, leaving behind a charred structure. The loss of property, including numerous exhibits crucial to ongoing cases, is deeply regrettable.
The Ebonyi State Judiciary now faces the daunting task of rebuilding and recovering from this devastating incident. Investigations into the cause of the fire will be conducted to shed light on the unfortunate tragedy that befell the Magistrate Court
