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Residents of Makurdi are counting the cost after a massive evening inferno on Monday, November 24, 2025, completely gutted a thriving pure water production and packaging factory on Abinse Street, directly behind City Bay Park in the Wurukum area of the state capital.
The fire, believed to have been triggered by an electrical fault, started around 6:00 p.m. and spread with terrifying speed through the facility that combined sachet water production with leather works. Thick smoke blanketed the entire neighborhood as hundreds of panicked residents and passers-by abandoned whatever they were doing to rush to the scene.
In a remarkable display of community spirit, ordinary citizens formed long human chains, passing buckets, bowls, and jerrycans of water in a desperate attempt to stop the flames from jumping to nearby houses and shops. Their efforts, combined with the concrete wall separating the factory from residential buildings, prevented what could have been a far worse catastrophe.
By the time the Benue State Fire Service finally arrived, eyewitnesses said the tanker was almost empty, rendering professional intervention largely symbolic. Most of the factory, including expensive production machines, thousands of packaged products ready for distribution, and raw materials, had already been reduced to ashes.
Pastor Lazarus Ternenge, the owner, stood helplessly watching decades of hard work disappear. “Everything is gone,” he told reporters at the scene. “All the machines, the leather materials, the pure water plant, everything. There is literally nothing left to salvage.”
Miraculously, no life was lost and no serious injuries were recorded, but the financial devastation is total. The factory employed dozens of youths directly and supported scores of distributors and retailers across Makurdi and beyond.
As dawn broke on Tuesday morning, the smoldering ruins continued to attract crowds of sympathizers while angry residents openly vented their frustration at the perennial tardiness and poor state of readiness of the state fire service. Many questioned why a state capital still relies on a single, often poorly maintained fire truck that frequently responds to emergencies with little or no water.
The incident has once again spotlighted the urgent need for better funding, modern equipment, and multiple fire stations across Makurdi. For Pastor Ternenge and his workers, the road to recovery now begins from zero, with many hoping that government and well-meaning individuals will step in to help rebuild what the flames destroyed in minutes.
