An early morning inferno on Sunday gutted the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Clinic along Maiduguri-Bypass, Bauchi, destroying hospital beds and other medical equipment worth millions of Naira.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the fire broke out at about 7:20 am after the restoration of the power supply to the facility.
The Supervisor of ECWA Clinics in Bauchi District, Ezekiel Waziri, stated that the fire was suspected to have been caused by an electrical fault.
According to Waziri, the fire started subtly from the roof of the building before rapidly escalating and engulfing the entire structure.
“The fire has destroyed all beds, incubators, genotype machine, drugs,” Waziri lamented, adding that almost all medical equipment in the clinic was lost.
He appealed to the Bauchi State Government and relevant authorities to urgently intervene and assist in rebuilding the clinic to restore healthcare services to the community.
Confirming the extent of the damage, the Officer in Charge of the clinic, Mai-Samari Bernard, disclosed that drugs worth N2.5 million were destroyed in the inferno.
He further revealed that most of the lost medical equipment was foreign-imported, compounding the financial and operational setbacks faced by the facility.
Benard added that an inventory of the extent of damage the inferno caused would be taken for proper documentation after the fire has been put under total control.
Director of the Bauchi State Fire Service, Dauda Pali, confirmed the incident, stating that the fire broke out at about 7:25 a.m. on Sunday.
He noted that firefighters responded promptly and successfully brought the situation under control, preventing the flames from spreading to nearby buildings.
Pali explained that the immediate cause of the inferno could not be ascertained at the moment, stressing that investigations were ongoing.
He also cautioned residents of Bauchi metropolis, urging them to take proactive safety measures to prevent fire outbreaks, especially during the current cold weather when fire incidents tend to increase.
