Boma Achenimie 
Following an enigmatic fire that entirely damaged the Ebonyi State Magistrate’s Court 1 at the Ebonyi State Judicial Headquarters opposite Old Government House Abakaliki, properties worth over N40 million have been destroyed by fire.
Nnenna Onuoha, the Chief Registrar of the State High Court in Abakaliki disclosed this on Tuesday while speaking with New Telegraph.
According to him, approximately N40 million worth of property had been damaged.
Speaking further, Onuoha said that the majority of the courtroom exhibits were destroyed by fire and that the heinous event took place over the weekend.
He said, “On the early hours of June 3rd, we got calls from our people living at the magistrate quarters that our court has been gutted by fire.
“We rushed to the court and saw that the court was truly razed by fire. We started asking what could be the cause of the incident. They told us that the fire was from the transformer, and they said the fire came out from the transformer.
“Rescuers called Ebonyi State Fire Service and they came and help us to quench the fire. As you can see, the building was completely gutted by fire. The inferno razed the Magistrate Court 1 completely with exhibits and other vital documents burnt to ashes,” she said.
New Telegraph had earlier reported that the fire also destroyed the possessions of lawbreakers whose property had been confiscated by the court and was parked within the court.
A magistrate who talked to New Telegraph under the condition of anonymity claimed that the fire awakened him and some State High Court employees who live close to the magistrate court building.
“We were woken up by the inferno. We are living close to the court premises. We I came there, we started using our fire extinguishers to quench the fire. I shot one of the extinguishers and the fire exploded and got more serious.
“By this time, our security men had run away. We contacted the State Fire Service and they came and helped us to quench the fire. Before their arrival, we have exhausted our fire extinguishers,” the magistrate said.