President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday condoled parents, guardians, and families who lost their loved ones in a fire incident that engulfed an Islamic school in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The President’s condolences were conveyed in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, titled; “President Tinubu Mourns Zamfara Islamic School Pupils, Says Safety Should Be Uppermost To Proprietors“.
The is as reports indicated that residents of Kaura-Namoda town, the second largest city in the North West state, are still in shock over the tragedy, as they mourn the 17 young Almajiris who lost their lives in the Tsangaya school (Almajiri school) fire incident.
The statement by Onanuga read; “President Tinubu commiserates with the state government and owners of the school and prays for the quick recovery of those receiving medical attention.
“The President enjoins all public and private schools to prioritise children’s safety and security at all times and directs regulatory authorities in the education sector to ensure compliance with safety standards.”
Meanwhile, confirming that 17 Almajiris died and 15 others were seriously injured in the devastating inferno, the Zamfara State Police Command, through the Commissioner for Police, Mohammed Shehu Dalijan, said the fire broke out around 2:00 am on Wednesday due to burning corn stalks, engulfing the shelter where the pupils were asleep.
Dalijan told reporters, “We received the sad incident that some Almajiri pupils have lost their lives in the inferno while they were asleep.”
The teacher in charge of the Almajiris, Malam Aliyu Abubakar Khalifa, who disclosed that the fire started past midnight, said it was eventually brought under control by the people of the area.
He said; “I suddenly heard shouts of ‘fire, fire!’ and rushed outside to find about 30 pupils struggling to escape. All efforts by the firefighters to control the fire proved abortive because they had no functional equipment.”
Khalifa further explained that the local volunteers and police officers worked together to contain the blaze and rescued some of the affected pupils, noting that out of approximately 100 Almajiri pupils in the hall, 17 were burnt to ashes, while 15 others sustained injuries.
According to him; “It is a great loss, but we accept it as the will of Allah”
Also speaking on the incident through the Principal Fire Superintendent, Muhammad Gakadi, the Zamfara State Fire Service (ZSFS) attributed the delay in fighting the fire to technical issues with their firefighting equipment.
Reports emerging from Kaura-Namoda town said all 17 victims were burnt beyond recognition while their charred bodies littered the building. Eyewitnesses say the fire started late on Tuesday night and raged for about three hours, leaving 16 others injured.
A resident of the area, Abdulrasaq Bello Kaura, who spoke to Channels Television, attributed the cause of the inferno to the ignition of some stored sticks locally called kara.
Another source, who also narrated the incident, said; “It happened at Makaranta Mallam Ghali, inside their study hall. There are about 100 of them in the house. After they evacuated the students, they thought none of them remained inside the house; it was when they returned after the fire that they saw their body parts like legs, hands, and corpses of the victims burnt beyond recognition”.
He added that the 17 dead students had been buried on Wednesday.
On his part, a distressed Chairman of Kaura-Namoda Local Government, Comrade Mannir Muazu Haidara, while confirming the incident, said he was heading to the scene and would provide further details later after assessing the situation on ground.
