Niger: Hotelier attempts suicide after fire razes hotel  

By: Adelowo Oladipo, Minna 

A timely intervention by neighbours and other good Samaritans prevented a hotel owner, Sunday Agbo from commiting suicide after his multi million naira hotel was razed by fire in Suleja, Suleja local government area of Niger state.

The fire incident was said to have occurred on Sunday afternoon after one of the generating sets in the hotel caught  fire and immediately extended to the entire building in a twinkle of an eye.

The hotel, Abagbo Garden and Hotel popularly refers to as “car wash hotel” situated at Kwankwashi area of Suleja, is one of the most popular hotels in Suleja local government Area of Niger State.

Eyewitness account told our Correspondent that despite a spirited efforts by neighbors and Lodgers in the hotel, including staff of A.A Rano filling station who came with the station’s fire extinguisher to put off the fire, the inferno rages on with almost nothing to salvage.

It was gathered that though men of the state fire service from Suleja division later mobilized to the scene with their truck, a substantial parts of the hotel had been razed down in what people described as a “mysterious fire” due to the speed and the magnitude of the destruction.

Apart from the rooms, the entire store with over 200 cartoons of beer of different brands was razed down.

Further checks revealed that  the management of  the hotel took the delivery of the beers on Saturday before the fire incident occurred on Sunday, and no single bottle had been sold from the over 200 cartons of beer in tbe store.

The director of the hotel, Mr. Sunday Agbo an indigene of Benue state who watched helplessly as the inferno reduced his life time investment into rubbles, took to his heels but was immediately chased and held down by people around who suspected that he was heading for a suicide mission.

He was later taken away from the scene of the inferno to his personal where families and friends besiege to sympathize with him and consoled him over the heavy lose.

The visibly shaking director who managed to speak after regaining himself, revealed that he has lost everything he has laboured for over 20 years, stressing that “what else do you want me to be doing in this life”

Mr. Agbo was said to have obtained a loan of over N10million for the renovation of the entire hotel rooms and was even yet to pay for the over 200 cartons of beers he took the delivery before the incident,

“I don’t how I will come out of this, I am finished, I don’t know where to start from because I have invested everything into this hotel”, he was quoted to have cried out.