FIRE GUTS HOUSE AT IKORO-EKITI
Fire gutted, yesternight, a one-storey building in Ikoro-Ekiti in Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
The burnt house is next to the ancient Royal Palace of the Olukoro of Ikoro Kingdom. It used to serve as an extension of the ancient palace whose expansive terrace is used to host important traditional and other public events.
The house owned by the late Prince Olatunde Adeleye, was built in 1929 first as a bungalow with thatched roof and later raised to a one storey building with corrugated iron roof twenty years later in 1949.
The inferno that consumed the house occured at about 7.30 p.m and raged for more than one hour before Fire Fighters came from Ado-Ekiti, the state capital city, to defuse the fire.
According to an insider, the unfortunate incident was believed to have been caused by a gas explosion in one of the rooms upstair.
Nothing of real value could be retrieved from the house while the fire lasted.
Conservative estimates put the value of the properties destroyed by the fire at no fewer than Ten million Naira.
Among the items lost to the inferno include ancient artefacts, expensive furniture, scores of both ancient and modern clothes, expensive jewelries and shoes, academic certificates, scores of kegs of palm-oil, several bags of cocoa beans and over twenty baskets of kolanut aside from raw cash estimated at over N150,000.
Meanwhile, the head of the affected family, Princess Adepeju Ojo (Nee Adeleye), who is now homeless as a result of the unfortunate fire incident, has passionately appealed to the Ekiti State Government through His Excellency, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, the Governor, to please come to her aid in her efforts to rebuild the legacy house.
The Princess also appealed to all men and women of goodwill to come to her aid in whatever form in this particular hour of her misfortune.
