Ekiti monarch, 6 children escape death as fire guts palace

Calamity was narrowly averted on Tuesday at Ijero Ekiti, Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti state, as fire razed a section of Owa Ajero’s palace in the community.

During the inferno, six children of Owa Ajero, Oba Joseph Adebayo Adewole, were evacuated by sympatisers.

Narrating how the incident happened, Olori Christianah Adewole, told journalists that the fire suddenly surged around 4pm from a section of the palace and burnt the entire rooms therein.

Olori Adewole added that the four-bedroom flat was destroyed and it took the intervention of sympathisers to rescue six children who were inside the rooms in the bungalow.

She said some visitors who came to the palace noticed the thick smoke from the affected section and raised the alarm before sympathisers out out the inferno, preventing it from spreading to the first floor of the one -storey building and other adjoining buildings.

“The fire started around 4pm and the thick smoke oozing out showed that it had started long before the people noticed it.

“The rooms and other accessories inside were destroyed and for the help of the people, the children inside were evacuated through the windows,” she recounted.

Governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, who paid a visit to the monarch commiserated with Oba Adewole over the destruction.

The governor, represented by his Chief of Staff, Biodun Omoleye, visited the palace for an on the spot assessment of the damaged palace, just as he sympathized with the monarch over the fire incident.

Fayemi assured the monarch of government’s support to rebuild the damaged section and renovate other areas that need rehabilitation.

He said: “I hope and believe very soon, some help will come from the government to the palace of Ijero kingdom.

“It is our prayer that such unfortunate incident will never happen again in this palace. We pray that this will be a stepping stone for the transformation of the entire palace.”

Responding, Oba Adewole expressed gratitude to the governor for the visit and the planned support from the government.

The monarch expressed joy that no life was lost during the inferno.