WHEN Jude Okoro left for church on Sunday and decided not to wear the new suit he bought last Friday for N25,000, little did he know that he would come back not having any cloth to wear again, not even the new suit, except the one he wore to his church.
His flat and that of his next door neighbour on the last floor of a two-storey building located at No. 11, Idowu Oshinfodurin street, Ire-akari Estate, Isolo Lagos, was razed to ashes and nothing was saved except that no life was lost. For that, they give God thanks.
According to him, “I and my brother left our house around 10.10a.m and went to our church, End Time Power Global Evangelism at Apapa. I was in the church when my aunt called that I should come home, that our house was on fire. I took a commercial motorcycle from there and when I reached home, I was shocked that everything I got had been razed.”
Jude, a generating set spare part trader at Ilasa, said that all he had worked for all his life gone with the fire, including some cash which was given to him on Saturday by  persons who owed him.
“As I am, it is only the clothes that I am wearing and that of my brother’s own is all we have now. All our property and cash in the house are all burnt. I had up to N100,000, which I collected from people who owed me at the market and I don’t even know how much my brother left there. Even on Friday, I bought a new suit and this morning, I was contemplating on wearing it to the church and later decided to wear another one and leave it for my friend’s wedding coming up next Saturday. Now, I don’t have anything again. If I had worn it to the church, at least, I would have been happy that I still have what to wear for my friend’s wedding.”
The fire, which started around 10.00a.m. was said to have been emanated from the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) metre  in one of the flats.
But for the quick intervention of the men of the Lagos State fire service, the whole building would have been totally razed.
The occupant of the next flat, Mr. Sunday Ugochukwu, an auditor with one of the telecoms companies, said that they were alerted by a shout of fire from outside.
According to him, “when we heard the sound, we came out and tried to contain it with water and water mixed with detergents. Some people brought fire extinguishers but it was like the fire had become severe in that flat before we became aware.
“The smoke was becoming thick and heavy that we couldn’t go in and do anything. I had to evacuate my children from my own flat downstairs.
“It was then that people started calling the fire service who responded immediately and came with their tankers and started fighting it.
Ugochukwu lamented the damage the fire had caused, stating that he did not know where to start now or where to go with his family.
“We couldn’t come out with anything from our house because when I heard the shout, I tried to know whether we could contain it.
“By the time I noticed that the fire was serious and that it had spread, I had to take away my children first and couldn’t take out any property from the house.

“My certificates, my library, everything is gone. The one that is most painful is my laptop because I have so many important files on it but now, all of them are gone. My children right now are in the house of one of our church members. I don’t know where to start now?” he cried.