Fire Razes Ebonyi Health Ministry Facility, Destroys Vaccines Worth Millions

A devastating fire has destroyed a key cold storage facility belonging to the Ebonyi State Ministry of Health, wiping out vaccines, medical equipment, and other critical supplies valued at hundreds of millions of naira.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Friday at Block 5, Centenary City in Abakaliki, dealing a major blow to the state’s immunisation infrastructure.

State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Moses Ekuma, who visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment, described the loss as significant, noting that the facility housed essential vaccines and cold-chain equipment used for their preservation.

Items destroyed in the blaze include vaccines, vaccine carriers, cold-chain boxes, laptops, official documents, five refrigerators, two solar-powered refrigerators, as well as 45 solar batteries and inverters. Hospital beds and mattresses supplied by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency for distribution to local government areas under the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Intervention were also lost.

Ekuma confirmed that vaccines such as BCG, pentavalent, and HPV stored in the facility were completely destroyed. He, however, expressed relief that no lives were lost.

The commissioner commended emergency responders, including officials from the state Ministry of Power and Energy, fire service personnel, and security agencies, for their swift intervention, which prevented the fire from spreading further.

Preliminary findings indicate that the cause of the fire is yet to be determined. Ekuma revealed that the facility had been without public electricity supply for about five days, while its backup solar system was also non-functional at the time. Efforts to restore power were ongoing, with the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company already contacted, while the solar maintenance engineer was reportedly out of town before the incident.

To address the situation, the commissioner announced the constitution of an investigative committee to determine the cause of the fire and recommend preventive measures. He also directed that alternative office arrangements be made for staff of the affected immunisation unit, acknowledging that the incident has disrupted vaccination services in the state.

Meanwhile, the Officer in Charge of Operations at the State Fire Service, Frank Oka Ota, disclosed that his team received a distress call at about 5:18 a.m. and responded promptly, managing to contain the blaze despite its intensity.

He praised the efforts of Francis Nwifuru for equipping the fire service with new trucks, which he said enhanced their response capacity, but called for the recruitment of more personnel to strengthen operations.

The incident has heightened concerns over infrastructure resilience and the protection of critical medical supplies vital to public health delivery in Ebonyi State.