An 80-year-old woman was burnt to death when fire gutted over 50 houses at the Tse Agubor Gyaruwa, Tsambee–Mbesev Council Ward in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State.
Also burnt were properties worth millions of naira.
The village head of the community, Ayatse Agubor, who disclosed this in Makurdi, said the incident took place at about 10am on January 18, 2024, when members of the village were in the farm.
Zaki Agubor said when the fire began, they all ran to the farm to stop the fire from affecting their farm products which they stored in the farm. But as they were at it, they also noticed that the whole village was on fire.
He warned youths in the area to desist from unauthorised bush burning as, henceforth, “there will be a punishment if anyone is caught in the act.”
A woman, Hajia Kongo, who lost over 10 bags of maize, soya beans and over N100,000 she hid in one of the bags of corn, lamented the level of destruction caused by the inferno. Kongo called on the state government and good spirited individuals to assist them cushion the effects of the loss.
Reacting to the incident, the Caretaker Chairman of Gwer West, Mr Henry Agba, said his council will no longer tolerate incessant bush burning in the local government. The chairman said his council would send a team to assess the extent of destruction in the inferno, to enable the it report to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
