One dead, three injured as fire guts Kogi settlement

One person died and three others sustained injuries when a Fulani settlement at Jingbe, Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi, was completely gutted by an overnight fire.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered in Lokoja on Sunday that the settlement made up of 87 thatched houses being inhabited by over 300 Fulani men, women and children, was gutted by fire at about 2 a.m. when the occupants were fast asleep.

Briefing journalists on the development, the acting chairman of the state branch of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MCBAN), Ardo Bello Garatu, said that the incident occurred in the early hours of February 8.

Mr Garatu, who spoke through Adamu Abubakar, the state Acting Assistant Secretary of the association, said that a two-year-old male child died in the incident, while three women sustained various degrees of injury.

He said that the victims, apart from being rendered homeless, had lost cash and personal effects worth millions of Naira.

He said that the victims who included children were now being forced to live in the open, calling for the urgent intervention of Gov. Yahaya Bello.

The association also appealed to the federal government to direct the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to immediately come to the aid of the victims to prevent further loss of lives.

(NAN)