The female hostel of the Plateau State Polytechnic, Jos campus was reported to have been razed by fire on the 28th August 2017.
According to News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), the fire raged from 8:30 in the morning until 11:44 am. and no death was recorded among the student and staff of the institution.
According to report, the fire was caused by a gas explosion. However, the Fire Service arrived at the fire scene at 11:20 am after the flames had done havoc to the hostel.
The Rector of the school, Mr Dauda Gyemang, confirmed that the Fire broke out due to a gas explosion. He described the unfortunate incident as ‘shocking’. He made mention that the students were prohibited from using cooking gas.
He said: “We thank God that no life was lost in the inferno, but nothing was rescued.”
“We shall move the students to another place because the building is completely burnt down. It is very devastating.”
He added: “The problem here is that students do not adhere to the institution’s regulations; they are not supposed to be cooking in the hostels.”
One of the security personnel of the Institution, Mr Yusuf Ade said: “Many students had left for lectures when the fire started; no one was around to remove anything from the burning hostel.”
According to the hostel’s representative, Miss Christiana Azi, the students lost all they had including their original credentials, food stuff, clothes and other valuables.
She said: “The incident is shocking and devastating. It will be very difficult to recover from it.”
