A mysterious fire has razed the house of a physically challenged man, Mr. Linus Eji, at the Ododokpa Ndubia Igbeagu community in the Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
Narrating his pain to PUNCH Metro on Sunday, Eji said the mysterious fire gutted his house in the early hours of Wednesday, when he was sitting outside with his two children, preparing breakfast.
He noted that because of his physical condition, he was unable to remove any item from the house and expressed regrets that he could no longer feed the family and send his children back to school following the resumption of a new academic session.
The victim, who is a shoemaker, said he was depressed by the unfortunate incident and called on the National Emergency Management Agency, the State Emergency Management Agency and other public-spirited individuals in the country to assist him to feed his children in this economic hardship.
Some of the items destroyed by the inferno included clothes, newly harvested bags of rice, a TV set, sewing machine belonging to the wife and all the equipment he used for shoemaking and repairs.
According to him, “I was with my two children outside our house around 8 am on Wednesday, when I noticed that fire had gutted our house and I couldn’t move or do anything because of my condition.
“Everything in that house was totally burnt down. Not even a pin was removed. I only have this clothing that I am putting on and nothing again.
“Apart from my shoemaking and repairs business, I also engage in rice farming. Just recently, I harvested my rice, stored the bags inside the house waiting for it to be milled, only for this unfortunate incident to befall us and burn all that belonged to me.
“The situation is so devastating and it has brought me back to scratch. I have to start all again. My children need to go back to school. We need a roof over our head and we still need to feed.”
According to him, “You can see my children here. We plead that good-spirited Nigerians should come to our rescue and help us.”
