A man, suspected to be under the influence of hard drug, on Tuesday night, allegedly set his own furniture shop ablaze at Saniko community, Agbarah-Otor, in Ughelli North LGA of Delta State.
The incident resulted in losses estimated at millions of naira.
Eyewitnesses said the man, believed to be in his 40, torched the shop which housed modern furniture worth several millions of naira, and the fire completely razed the facility before help could arrive.
A community source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the suspect became violent when residents attempted to intervene. “It happened this night. Nobody knows what really came over him, but people believe he must have taken hard drugs,” the source said.
“He set his own shop on fire, and when people rushed there after noticing the blaze, he chased them away with a cutlass. He was attacking people with the cutlass until the youths of the community mobilised and overpowered him.”
According to the source, the suspect was eventually restrained by community youths and left naked, while the fire consumed the entire shop and its contents. “I don’t know his name, and so far nobody has come forward to identify him as a relation. But the truth is that millions of naira worth of furniture have been destroyed. The shop is completely burnt down,” the source added.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, said the command was not aware of the incident.
He explained, “Inasmuch as he set his own shop ablaze and nobody died, nobody may come to the police to report it. Since there has been no report, it is assumed that the police are not aware of the incident.”
As of the time of filing this report, the identity of the suspect and the circumstances leading to his actions remained unclear.
