A timely intervention by neighbours and other good Samaritans prevented a hotel owner, Sunday Agbo, from taking his own life after his multi-million-naira hotel was razed by fire in Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State.
The fire incident reportedly occurred on Sunday afternoon after one of the hotel’s generating sets caught fire and quickly spread to the entire building within a short time.
The hotel, Abagbo Garden and Hotel, popularly referred to as the “Car Wash Hotel” and located in the Kwankwashi area of Suleja, is one of the most popular hotels in the local government area.
Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that despite spirited efforts by neighbours, lodgers, and hotel staff, including workers of A.A. Rano Filling Station, who brought fire extinguishers, the inferno continued to rage, leaving almost nothing to salvage.
Although officials of the Niger State Fire Service, Suleja Division, later arrived at the scene with a fire truck, a substantial part of the hotel had already been destroyed. Many residents described the incident as a “mysterious fire” due to the speed and extent of the damage.
Apart from the guest rooms, the entire store containing over 200 cartons of assorted beer was completely destroyed.
Further findings revealed that the hotel management took delivery of the beers on Saturday, a day before the incident, and that not a single bottle had been sold from the stock before the fire broke out on Sunday.
The director of the hotel, Mr. Sunday Agbo, an indigene of Benue State, watched helplessly as the inferno reduced his lifetime investment to rubble. He reportedly attempted to run away from the scene but was immediately chased and restrained by people who suspected he intended to harm himself.
He was later taken away from the scene to his residence, where family members and friends gathered to sympathise and console him over the heavy loss.
The visibly shaken director, who later managed to speak after regaining composure, revealed that he had lost everything he laboured for over 20 years, stressing that “what else do you want me to be doing in this life.”
Mr. Agbo was also said to have obtained a loan of over ₦10 million for the renovation of the hotel rooms and had not yet paid for the over 200 cartons of beer delivered shortly before the incident.
“I don’t know how I will come out of this. I am finished. I don’t know where to start from because I have invested everything into this hotel,” he was quoted as saying
