Sometime between 3:20 AM and 3:25 AM on Tuesday, 21st January 2025, there was a loud explosion followed by a fire outbreak at the transformer at Idia Village, UI.
According to eyewitnesses at the Queen Idia Hall and some residents of the Great Independence Hall, this was followed by a loss of power to both Halls. There were shouts of distress, attracting responders from Idia Village and Indy Hall, who combined efforts to put out the fire a few minutes after 3:30 AM, using sand.
Power was restored to Indy Hall sometime around 3:45 AM and Idia Hall around 4:25 AM. An eyewitness, Onuorah Favour, told the Press, “The light went off with a bang [that] sounded more like an explosion but a whistling sound continued for like a minute or two. People came with water but when they realized that it was an electric fire they poured it off and started digging up sand“. He added that the fire was extinguished at 3:33 AM.
Speaking with the Press, the Students’ Union, UI, Vice President, Boluwatife Aboderin, who was resident in Queen Idia Hall at the time of the occurrence, said, “There was a loud explosion and lights went off. A side of the transformer caught fire instantly too. However, it was put out pretty fast”. As of Press time, the cause of the fire can not be ascertained.
The incident is the most recent in a series of outbreaks at the University, albeit of varying severity and for different reasons, following an incident in Room B74 of the Nnamdi Azikwe Hall just six days ago and a larger outbreak at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the 5th of December, 2024.
In the case of emergencies, the following are the UI Fire Services Call lines: 08126869777 (CUG), 08155545550, 07083799991, and 08140001004, as seen in an October 2021 bulletin.
Afeezah Wojuade
Gloria Nelson