Benue: Fire guts over 300 houses, displaces 95 households in Wannue community

A major fire incident has destroyed more than 300 houses in Wannue community, Tarka Local Government Area of Benue State, leaving about 95 households displaced.

The inferno swept through clusters of thatch houses and other residential structures, consuming essential household items as well as large quantities of farm produce valued at millions of naira.

Speaking with *The Nation* on the phone, one of the victims, Mr. Moses Answa Agule, said the fire broke out while he was away at the market.

“I got a call from my neighbours that my thatch houses, which served as yam ban, were on fire,” he said.

Agule explained that by the time he returned home, all his stored food items and the thatch structures had already been engulfed by flames.

He appealed to well-meaning Nigerians and the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for assistance as affected families struggle to cope with the losses.

Items destroyed in the fire reportedly include household belongings and farm produce such as melon, cassava chips, maize and yams.

The cause of the fire remains unknown, as authorities are yet to determine what triggered the outbreak.