Recurring Hostel Fire Sparks Fears for Students’ Safety In Bayelsa Varsity

Anxiety has continued to spread among students and parents of Bayelsa Medical University (BMU), Yenagoa, following another fire outbreak at the female hostel of the institution on Monday night.

It destroyed the students’ valuables and raised fresh concerns over what students described as repeated electrical faults in the building.

Although no life was lost in the latest incident, the students said the fire, which started from an electrical spark, could have turned tragic if those inside the hostel had not escaped in time.

Several students who spoke with LEADERSHIP recounted how they ran for safety in panic as thick smoke and flames spread through one of the rooms in the hostel.

A 400-level Nursing student said the incident happened shortly after she went to bed, adding that many students initially thought the spark was one of the regular electrical faults they had become used to in the hostel.

“I slept around after 9pm. It’s not up to 20 minutes after I slept, I started hearing shouting. Immediately I woke up, I was hearing fire.

After the last fire incident, there have been series of sparks. People will shout but it will just look as if we are overreacting.

“So I felt it was the same situation today. But then my roommate kept shouting fire, that was how I ran out of the room with shock. I was expecting it to be something minor as usual but then I saw fire, the room was burning like seriously,” she added.

According to her, efforts to stop the fire became difficult because the hostel’s fire extinguisher was empty while water supply from the tap was poor.

“I first of all ran downstairs and I saw the girl with fire extinguisher. As she was trying to use the fire extinguisher, there was nothing coming out, it was empty. She tried to get water from the tap, the tap was dripping, water was not rushing,” she said.

She further alleged that the hostel gate was locked during the incident, making escape and rescue difficult for students.

“The gate to our hostel was locked and we have been begging the school authority to open this gate, even during the day time they don’t use to open it for us. They said security reasons,” she stated.

Another 400-level Nursing student told LEADERSHIP that the fire quickly destroyed the affected room before help arrived and accused the school management of trying to shift blame to students instead of addressing the faulty electrical system.

“By the time we came out, the room has burnt to ashes. We called our Portal, she could not do anything, fire extinguisher was not working before the boys had to break the gate at the back of our hostel, came in and quench a little of the fire.

“Before the fire service came, they have even quenched the fire but all the belongings are damaged, their documents, everything is gone. Now the school authority is trying to say they are the ones that caused the fire meanwhile it is their bad connection that caused this fire,” she alleged.

A 300-level Optometry student also narrated how she returned to the hostel only to meet confusion and heavy smoke.

“I went out to buy my toiletries and provisions, only for me to be coming back to the hostel, I’m seeing security running. I was trying to go upstairs, I was seeing people coming down with buckets,” she said.

“By the time I turned to my right, I was seeing room covered with fire, thick fire. I couldn’t even move, everywhere was burning, the bunk was burning,” she added.

Another student from the Department of Medical Laboratory Science said many students no longer react seriously to fire alarms because such incidents happen regularly in the school.

“Fire is something that is not new to any BMU student. Last week fire, this week fire, every day we must experience fire. We thought it was a minor thing but the fire became so intense,” the 400-level student said.

She disclosed that she hurried upstairs to rescue her important documents while battling panic and suffocation from the smoke.

“I had to rush upstairs and pick my documents, my WAEC, my laptop and every important things you can think of. I didn’t carry my cloths because cloth is vanity.

“As I opened my door, I was so astound because of the smoke. I don’t have asthma but I almost had asthma attack. The smoke was so strong, I had panick attack, I was shaking that I started crying,” she added.

Parents have also expressed fears over the safety of their children in the institution.

A parent, Mr. Peremobowei Stanley Disi, whose daughter is a student of the university, described the repeated fire outbreaks as disturbing and dangerous, adding that the institution should have traced and fixed the root cause of the electrical problem long ago.

“I’m a parent and my daughter is part of that institution. So it’s a saddening thing that similar situation has occurred severally and they still do wear and tear situation. They still do patching because they would have gone back, traced the source, if possible, change all the wiring,” he said.

Disi warned that the next incident could become deadly if urgent action was not taken and called on the management and government to carry out a complete rewiring of the hostel.

“Thank God, no lives have been taken since ever this thing has been occurring. But you wouldn’t know, the next damage could be more deadly because sometimes these students might be asleep and this same thing happen in the night. Who will be at their rescue?” he queried.

“I want them to trace from all the connections, if possible, do a fresh rewiring which they can afford so that that area can be tackled,” he stated.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of Bayelsa Medical University, Dr. Marie Teibowei, declined to comment immediately on the issue.

“Okay, you will have to come to the university and see for yourself if it has been rectified. But I can’t talk on the phone, I’m in a meeting,” she said.

When our correspondent got to the school, he called the PRO, but she said she was still in a meeting and asked him to wait. The correspondent waited for over two hours, but she neither returned to her office nor responded to further calls and messages before he left the campus.