No fewer than two vehicles and 15 motorcycles were said to have been burnt to ashes after a section of the Otukpo residence of the former Senate President, David Mark, went up in flames.
The fire, according to eyewitnesses, was said to have spread from a nearby bush bordering the fence of his guest house and gutted the section of the premises where the two ambulances and the 15 motorcycles were kept.
Some workers within the residence, who saw the raging fire quickly moved to put it off but couldn’t as the fire was said to have moved so fast destroying everything on sight.
However, officials of the Benue State Fire Service, Otukpo Office, were quickly alerted when efforts by workers and neighbours to put out the fire failed and they moved in to quench the fire.
“We made every effort to quench the fire but the more we tried the more it continued to spread. It was when we noticed that we could not stop it that we called fire service,” one of the workers told newsmen.
Confirming the incidence in a statement signed by one of his aides, Elijah Adakole, Sen. Mark aaid no life was lost in the fire incidence which occurred early hours of Thursday destroying some property including 15 motorcycles and two vehicles.
The statement titled, “Fire incident at David Mark’s Otukpo house”, read thus, “Earlier this morning (Thursday 2nd 2020), fire incident was reported in the Otukpo residence of the former Senate President, Senator (Dr) David Mark.
“The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained but some properties including 15 motorcycles and two vehicles were burnt.
“The arrival of the Fire Service personnel prevented the inferno from spreading to the entire building. The fire has since been put out. No life was lost,” the statement concluded.