From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Recently, the ever bubbling secretariat of Correspondents’ chapel of Kaduna State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) was razed by fire. The incident happened in the wee holy hours when the over 70 members of the chapel were at home snoring away.
An eye witness said the fire started at 1am on that fateful day, and destroyed everything in the secretariat.
The cause of the fire was yet unknown at the time of filling this report. The inferno destroyed property worth millions of naira as well as vital documents belonging to the secretariat.
Members of the chapel had ruled out power surge as the cause of the disaster as the main electricity pots in the building were all intact.
However, the executive members of the chapel have swung into action by setting up a 2-man committee to unravel the cause of the fire.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the chapel, Comrade Midat Joseph, has urged the members to remain calm. He said the police had been informed of the incident and urged members to wait for the outcome of their investigations.
So far, Governor Nasir el-Rufai has commiserated with members of the chapel. Speaking through his Senior Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, the governor promised to assist to ensure that the burnt secretariat was repaired.
When the former governor of the state, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, visited the secretariat, he prayed to God to give the chapel members strength and wisdom to regain what they lost in the inferno and promised to assist the chapel in way he could.
Among other sympathisers who had visited the chapel was the Senator representing Kaduna Central, Senator Shehu Sani, who was represented by some of his aides; the General Officer Commanding, 1 Mechanised Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade, sent the Division’s image maker to commiserate with the chapel.
Also, Kaduna based Founder of Sickle Cell Health Promotion Centre, Hajiya Badiya Magaji Inuwa, has commiserated with the chapel and donated some cash to assist in the secretariat repairs.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Kaduna state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) have also visited and pledged their assistance.
The state chapter of the Correspondents’ chapel has been facing some challenges since September last year when majority of the members impeached its chairman, Garba Muhammad. The chapel carried out the action following Muhammad’s alleged breach of the constitution and passed a vote of no confidence on him.
Early last February, Alhaji Adamu Yusuf of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, (FRCN), emerged as the new Chairman of the NUJ, Kaduna council. Yusuf, until his election was the former chairman of FRCN NUJ chapel.