Fire guts Ondo power plant

A multi-million naira electricity plant located in Oke Agbe, in the Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been gutted by fire.

The cause of the inferno remains unknown, but it was learnt that the plant went up in flames on Monday and the fire was still burning as of the time of filing this report on Tuesday.

The plant was said to have been established by the Federal Government some years ago to supply electricity to the Akoko area of Ondo State and some parts of Ekiti State, but it was gathered that it had been abandoned.

An eyewitness said the fire destroyed the entire power plant and little could be done to extinguish it due to the absence of men of the Ondo State Fire Service in the area.

“We just saw the place burning suddenly and we didn’t know what caused it; firefighters were not on the ground to extinguish the fire, because they are not in this local government,” the eyewitness stated.

Another source said the fire might have resulted from bush burning in the area.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, CSP Femi Joseph, confirmed the incident and said investigation had commenced into it.

“We have yet to determine the cause of the fire, but we have commenced investigation,” he stated.