Fire in Uyo Apartment Claims Life of Young Woman

A young woman has died, and a student was injured after a fire destroyed a four-room apartment on Nabor Street, off Ikpa Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, early on Monday.

The cause of the fire is not yet clear, but residents believe that an electric scooter battery left charging overnight started it.

Patricia Udoukpo, the landlady, said she woke up around 04:30 after seeing thick smoke coming from the roof of one of the apartments she rented out.

“When I saw the smoke, I screamed, asking what they had cooked that they allowed to burn. That was when I heard Lawrence Nya, one of my tenants and a student, shouting, ‘Help me,’” she told PREMIUM TIMES.

Udoukpo raised the alarm by banging on things around the compound to wake other residents and neighbors. She tried to force open the iron door of Mr Nya’s room to save him, but she got an electric shock from the metal door frame.

“I hit things in the compound to raise the alarm for people to come out for a rescue. I rushed to his room, but when I held the iron protector trying to open it, I was shocked by it,” she said.

By the time other residents managed to rescue Mr Nya, the fire had gotten worse and spread to other rooms. After he was brought out, Mr Nya told rescuers that a young woman was still trapped inside the burning room.

“Before we could rescue the young woman, she had already been burnt to death,” Udoukpo added. Residents said Mr Nya mentioned he met the woman at a nightclub on Sunday night and did not know her name.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter who visited the scene saw that the fire destroyed Mr Nya’s room, turning his belongings into ashes. A burnt electric scooter was also found in the room. Three other rooms in the apartment, occupied by students, were also badly damaged.

Udoukpo said they couldn’t reach the fire service at first because they did not have the emergency number. Neighbors finally contacted the service, and firefighters put out the blaze.

Fire incidents have been happening more often in Uyo lately. In May, PREMIUM TIMES reported that a fire destroyed parts of a popular market in Uyo, causing many traders to lose goods worth millions of Naira.

Police officers have taken the remains of the unidentified woman to a mortuary, while Mr Nya was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The 64-year-old landlady was visibly upset, saying the destroyed apartments were her main source of income. “I am a widow. These rooms were the only means through which I survived from rent, apart from the waterleaf I cultivate. Now, I have lost so much,” she said.

The Nigeria Police Force in Akwa Ibom State confirmed the incident, stating that one woman died while a male occupant survived.

Police spokesperson Timfon John told PREMIUM TIMES that the fire happened in the early hours of Monday at a residential building along Ikpa Road, Uyo.

“The Akwa Ibom State Police Command confirms that a fire incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, 20 July 2026, at a residential building located along Ikpa Road, Uyo,” Ms John, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said.

“Regrettably, one female adult lost her life in the incident, while a male occupant survived. At the time of the report, the deceased had not been formally identified. Efforts are ongoing to establish her identity, and updates will be communicated as soon as they become available.”

While the police statement agrees with what residents said about the deceased being trapped inside, investigators still need to find out the official cause of the fire.