Fire has razed a palm kernel factory at an industrial park in Akure, Ondo State.
The fire was said to be caused by an electrical spark.
One of the workers at the factory sustained fire burns and is receiving treatment at a private hospital.
The factory’s owner, Adesunloye Adeniyi, said he lost goods worth over N10 million in the inferno.
According to him, he has been in the palm kernel processing business for over 10 years.
He said, “We just got here this afternoon shortly after we heard a spark from the exchange box and the next thing everywhere was on fire.
“I lost a heavy-duty power generating set to the inferno besides several raw materials for processing Palm kernel.
“I only have five workers on the ground and we were not able to salvage because everything was highly inflammable and the fire was spreading very fast.
“The goods I have lost today is more than N10 million as I have two machines and each is worth over N2 million. We had 500,000 tonnes of raw materials on the ground. And each tonne cost N350,000 not to talk of the structure on the ground. This is what I have been putting together for over 10 years now, it has gone down the drain.”
Reacting to the incident, the Chairman of Palm kernel Industrial Services, Joseph Daramola said said, “He has been working very hard for over 10 years and in few minutes, everything went down the drain. This is true, painful. I am calling on every Nigerian to please come to his aid because times are very hard now and it might be difficult to get himself together.”