An early morning fire yesterday dealt a devastating blow to one of
Nigeria’s foremost indigenous filmmakers, Dr. Ola Balogun, claiming
virtually everything that he owned.
All that he had laboured to acquire over the years were totally razed
in the inferno that raged relentlessly for about three hours.
The fire that gutted his leased house at 11, Aje Street, Sabo area of
the state, it was gathered, started about 2.30am and succeeded in
causing a demoralizing loss to the victim. It also destroyed his
intellectual property.
The fire also spread to the next house, a three-storey building,
wreaking untold havoc on all the occupants. That building was also
devastated, leaving the victims with unimaginable grief.
The only things left for Balogun as personal belongings now are the
shirt and trousers that he wore to bed, as well as his car and a
generator rescued by a kind-hearted neighbour.
The veteran filmmaker, in a chat with our correspondent, said the
inferno had only taken him through an interesting adventure. According
to him, if such things didn’t happen to man, life would have been too
boring for human habitation.
He said his plan now was to hang out and lean on some friends and
family members for survival. Such is life and man must live on, he
submitted.
The 69-year-old talented artiste, who had trained and impacted
positively on many Nigerian artistes, was also thankful to God and his
kind-hearted neighbours who promptly came and rescued him from the fire.
He was indeed lucky to be alive. By the time he woke up, his house was already in flames.
Hear him: “By the time I came out, the whole roof was on fire. At
about 3.00am, I noticed some odd noises from the roof, I first thought
it was some rats or so. But I soon noticed that the ceiling was aglow,
which was totally abnormal. These young men came banging at my door,
which I must praise them for. They were quite helpful. But there was
this particular young man; Doyin Sax Reeds who rescued me, brought out
my car and generator for safety. Before he came, even though I saw smoke
everywhere, I just stood there watching, I did not really know the next
thing to do.
“Everything is gone now – my books, films and other belongings.
Although, I still have some of my books in Paris, France, I have not
lived in Paris for many years now. My family is over there. Meanwhile,
this is a rented accommodation, which I have occupied for more than ten
years now.”
On what exactly led to the fire, Dr. Balogun said he could not really pinpoint to the source of the outbreak.
“I can’t say I saw the start of the fire. There was no light before I
slept and I put on my generator. Suddenly, I noticed that my generator
went off by itself at about 1.30am, but I didn’t come out for security
reasons.
His neighbours, who said they did all their best to quench the fire,
told our correspondents that their efforts to bring down the men of the
Lagos State Fire Service to quench the fire proved abortive. They
accused the fire fighters of slow response.
One of his neighbours, Doyin, who was commended for his bravery, said if
the fire fighters had arrived early, much damage would not have been
done on the buildings.
He stated: “I was within the premises of the next building about
2.30am when I woke up to urinate. Then I realised there was a smoke, a
thick smoke. Immediately, I suspected it was a fire outbreak in Dr.
Balogun’s house. So, I ran out to call him. After a few attempts to get
Balogun’s attention to no avail, we had to break the gate. Sighting him
within the burning house confused and traumatised, I tried to shake him
up, and I moved him out. After that, I came back and moved his vehicle,
generator, and gas cylinder away from the house.
“Thereafter, we began to combat the fire with water, soap and sand,
as more people now joined to help. At a point, the fire escaped into the
building beside it, number 9, through the AC vent, because the
buildings were quite close to each other. So, we got into the other
house, woke them up, and rescued them as well.
“At this point, we called the fire service through the Lagos State
Emergency number 767, while we were equally using the fire extinguishers
in my car to combat the fire. We waited endlessly for the fire
servicemen. Then I had to drive to a couple of fire service stations,
thinking that we could bring them down here by ourselves.
“When I got to Adekunle fire station, they told me that their vehicle
was not operational at that hour. Then I drove to another one at Apapa
Road, Ebute Meta, where we met no single person in the premises. Then I
drove to the fire service station at Surulere, beside Barracks, where I
met them playing draught. They were not even bothered. They claimed that
Sabo, the scene of the incident, was not within their jurisdiction.
“Though, I was furious at this stage, I didn’t stop there. I drove
straight to the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka. On getting there,
UNILAG fire fighters said it was not within their jurisdiction as well,
that their equipment was meant for the school. So I came back, and went
to Fire Service at Ojuelegba, appealed to them, alongside with some of
the residents around here that had gone there. It was then that the fire
fighters of Ojuelegba came down.
“Incidentally, the fire fighters from Alausa, Ikeja got here about five minutes after the ones from Ojuelegba got to the scene.
“But the federal fire fighters at Ojuelegba could do very little
because they were ill equipped, and the fire had gone far by the time
they arrived. The kind of liquid they brought wasn’t sophisticated
enough, it was just water. Lagos State Rescue Service, Alausa was the
one that now really stopped the fire, although, not until the two houses
had been burnt down completely.”
An occupant of the razed three-storey building, Mr Joseph Oscar,
lamented in low tones that he was left with nothing and that he was yet
to fathom where his family would lay their heads that night.
“As I am speaking to you now, there is nothing left for me. All my
property was burnt by the fire. We are all sitting outside here. I don’t
know nowhere to go and I don’t know what to do,” he grieved.
Luckily, no life was lost in the two ruined buildings. As at the time
the reporters visited the scene yesterday morning, the first, second and
third floors of the three-storey building had collapsed.
Balogun tasked governments at all levels to procure more fire-fighting equipment in the country.
When asked if he needed assistance from the government or members of
the public, he said he could not turn a beggar as a result of the
disaster.
“I don’t believe in that. Although, I had insured other properties, I
didn’t insure this one, I must confess. While there is life there is
hope. I will find somewhere to lay my head for a few days. There are
friends, or family members or cheap hotels where I can put up within the
country,” he said.
He commended the fire fighting crew from Alausa and Ilupeju, even as he thanked one Mr. Danmola who led the operation.
Another sympathizer, who said he was mentored by Balogun also drove
to the scene that night to help his teacher to salvage his property. But
his arrival was too late.
He said: “We had a plan to travel out of Lagos yesterday, but we
couldn’t make it. So, he just called me at about 3.am today (yesterday)
that his house was burning. Immediately, I drove down within four
minutes from Idi-Iroko.
“On getting here, I saw that the house was burning seriously. I also
joined other people in calling the fire service people, and we kept
waiting for them. So it took them about one and a half hours to arrive
here, after which two houses had been burnt down. This delay is so
unprofessional. Fire crisis is about life and property. I wouldn’t
understand why our fire service stations are never effective in Nigeria.
If these fire fighters were on ground they would have driven down in
five minutes, considering that the road was extremely free during those
hours of the night. I am grossly disappointed at the slow response,” he
lamented.
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