Mrs Fadilah Adamu, the wife of Adamu, speaking on behalf of her husband, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Masaka on Tuesday, that the fire occurred at about 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 10.
Adamu, while recounting the losses, said their three bedroom bungalow situated at Talent Science School Street, Jeun, Masaka, was razed by the fire as calls made to the fire service for help to minimise the damage proved abortive.
She said when the incident happened, the family called the fire service and the officers promised to come to rescue the situation, but they never came and the house got burnt beyond recognition.
“I was in my sitting room to rest after the day’s job, my husband put on the generator for my family to continue watching the television.
“We planned to turn off the generator by 11 p.m., before then, my husband did not hear the sound of the generator, so when he went outside, he discovered that the children had switched it off.
“He asked the children why they switched it off, that was when we got to know that the chicken cage was on fire as a result of the charcoal pot used in keeping the chickens warm.
“The fire was beyond control due to the harmattan weather as it quickly spread to the entire building.
“It took the efforts of neighbours to put out the fire after about two hours of rigorous work,” she said.
Adamu said that apart from the television set that was removed, every other valuables got burnt in the fire.
“If I want to calculate all that was lost based on present market survey, it will cost about N3.5 million estimate to get the zinc, wood, electrical and the plastering work.
“My families are now displaced, we have no where to stay so I am appealing to Nigerians, and civil society organisations to come to our aid so we can have a place for my family, ” she said.