A devastating fire on Sunday afternoon razed Abagbo Garden and Hotel, a popular hospitality facility in the Kwankwashi area of Suleja, Niger State, leaving properties worth millions of naira destroyed and its owner rescued from an alleged suicide attempt.
The inferno, which reportedly started from a generating set, spread rapidly across the premises, overwhelming initial efforts to contain it.
Despite the swift intervention of men of the Niger State Fire Service from the Suleja Division, a substantial part of the hotel was consumed by the blaze.
Eyewitnesses described the incident as a “mysterious fire” owing to the speed and scale of destruction, noting that the hotel owner, Mr. Sunday Agbo, watched helplessly as the flames reduced what many described as his lifetime investment to rubble.
According to an eyewitness, tension heightened moments after the fire as neighbours and good Samaritans had to restrain Agbo, who was suspected to be heading for a suicide attempt.
“The director of the hotel watched helplessly as the fire reduced his lifetime investment into rubbles.
He suddenly ran off, but people immediately chased and held him down, suspecting he was heading for a suicide mission,” the eyewitness said.
The hotel, popularly known as the “Car Wash Hotel,” is one of the most frequented relaxation spots in Suleja. Sources disclosed that over 200 cartons of beer were destroyed in the fire, compounding the losses recorded in the incident.
Agbo, an indigene of Benue State, was said to have recently obtained a loan of over ₦10 million to renovate the hotel. He was also reportedly yet to pay for the 200 cartons of beer delivered to the premises a day before the fire outbreak.
Following the incident, the distressed hotelier was escorted away from the scene to his residence, where family members, friends and sympathisers gathered to console him over the tragedy.
Speaking in an emotional tone while responding to sympathisers, Agbo lamented the extent of his loss, saying, “I don’t know how I will come out of this. I am finished. What else do you want me to be doing in this life?”.
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