By JUMI RHODES
On 12th August 2015, a fire incident that lasted for about two hours burnt down four 40ft containers being used as storage facilities by the Chris Oyakhilome-owned Christ Embassy church on Oregun Road, Ikeja, Lagos. The fire was caused by a burning heap of refuse which consumed the containers close to an uncompleted building on the church premises. Just as the church is recovering from the loss, fire razed down a section of the church on Wednesday, 13th January 2016 destroying some property of the church.
The fire incident started around 9pm after an electrical spark in the switch room of the church. According to an official of the Lagos State Fire Service, “Around 9.08pm on Wednesday, we got a call that there was a fire incident in the church. We deployed two 10,000 litres of water from our stations in Ikeja and Alausa. It was discovered that the fire was on the topmost floor of the church’s three-storeyed building. There had been an electrical spark in the switch room, which triggered off the fire. In about 30 minutes, we put it out.”