A young woman has died, and a student sustained injuries after a fire gutted a four-room apartment on Nabor Street, off Ikpa Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, in the early hours of Monday.
Although the cause of the fire has yet to be officially determined, residents who witnessed the incident alleged that an electric scooter battery left charging overnight triggered it.
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The landlady of the compound, Patricia Udoukpo, stated she woke at approximately 04:30 after noticing thick smoke rising from the roof of one of the apartments she had let to tenants.
“When I saw the smoke, I screamed, asking what they had cooked that they allowed to burn. That was when I heard Lawrence Nya, one of my tenants and a student, shouting, ‘Help me,” she told PREMIUM TIMES.
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Ms Udoukpo raised the alarm by banging on objects around the compound to alert other residents and neighbours. She attempted to force open the iron burglary-proof door of Mr Nya’s room to rescue him, but she suffered an electric shock from the metal fixture.
“I hit things in the compound to raise the alarm for people to come out for a rescue. I rushed to his room, but when I held the iron protector trying to open it, I was shocked by it,” she said.
By the time residents successfully rescued Mr Nya, the fire had intensified and spread to other rooms. It was only after being brought out that Mr Nya informed rescuers that a young woman was still trapped inside the burning room.
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“Before we could rescue the young woman, she had already been burnt to death,” Ms Udoukpo added. Residents stated that Mr Nya revealed he had met the woman at a nightclub on Sunday night and did not know her identity.
Property destroyed
A PREMIUM TIMES reporter who visited the scene observed that the fire destroyed Mr Nya’s room, reducing household items to ashes. A burnt electric scooter was also seen in the room. Three other rooms in the apartment, reportedly occupied by students, were also extensively damaged.
Ms Udoukpo said they were initially unable to contact the fire service as they did not have the emergency telephone number. Neighbours eventually reached the service, whose personnel extinguished the blaze.
Fire incidents have become frequent in Uyo recently. In May, PREMIUM TIMES reported that a fire razed parts of a popular market in Uyo, causing many traders to lose wares worth several million ₦aira.
Police officers have evacuated the remains of the unidentified woman to a mortuary, while Mr Nya was taken to a hospital for treatment.
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The visibly distressed landlady, 64, lamented that the destroyed apartments were her primary source of income. “I am a widow. These rooms were the only means through which I survived from rent, apart from the waterleaf I cultivate. Now, I have lost so much,” she said.
Police confirm the incident
The Nigeria Police Force in Akwa Ibom State confirmed the incident, stating that one woman died while a male occupant survived.
The state police spokesperson, Timfon John, told PREMIUM TIMES that the fire occurred in the early hours of Monday at a residential building along Ikpa Road, Uyo.
“The Akwa Ibom State Police Command confirms that a fire incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, 20 July 2026, at a residential building located along Ikpa Road, Uyo,” Ms John, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said.
“Regrettably, one female adult lost her life in the incident, while a male occupant survived. At the time of the report, the deceased had not been formally identified. Efforts are ongoing to establish her identity, and updates will be communicated as soon as they become available.”
While the police statement corroborates accounts by residents that the deceased was trapped inside one of the rooms, investigators have yet to establish the official cause of the blaze.
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