Imo State University Teaching Hospital Umuna in Orlu LGA would have been razed down to ashes except the timely intervention of the Umuna Traditional Ruler, HRM, Eze Dr Douglas Okwara who deployed the Community Vigilante in the company of other Residents to quench the inferno.
Information revealed that equipment worth more than Two hundred Million was razed down by fire.
Witnesses of the fire incident reported that the fire out break started by 2 pm on Monday February 5th and given non presence of security personnel in the Institution as well as fire Service, the Radiology Department and ICT were already razed down before the coming of Manual Tanker Drivers and Local Vigilante deployed by the Traditional Ruler of Umuna arrived and quenched the inferno by 8 pm .
Speaking,one of the Medical Doctors in the guise of anonymity revealed that the State Government has instantly lost over Two hundred million Naira worth of Equipment to the fire outbreak from the two Departments of Radiology and ICT razed down.
The Medical Personnel who attributed the fire incident to poor management of the Institution by the leadership revealed that the fire outbreak was caused by some Indian hemp smokers who always camp at the surrounding bushes around the Institution to smoke adding that if the Security personnel were on seat that the incidence would have stopped immediately it was noticed.
In his submission,a staff of the Institution hinted Lead that the Security personnel, starting from the CSO are inactive and hardly come to the office, particularly on Mondays.
Attributing the poor management of the Institution to the CMD, Dr Ifeanyi Nwamba, the Staff revealed that the said CMD pays more attention to his private Hospital in Portharcourt than IMSUTH where he oversees pointing out that Mba hardly comes to IMSUTH.
When contacted, the Traditional Ruler of Umuna where the Hospital is situated, HRH, Eze Dr Douglas Okwara however thanked the DPO Orlu for wasting no time in sending his troops to the area after his call adding that his Men and his own Vigilante who were already on top of the issue before the arrival of the police saved the Institution from completely burning to ashes.
Okwarachukwu, the Chairman Isu Council of Traditional Rulers who used the forum to call on the Governor to look into the activities of the management of the Institution for increased productivity however thanked the Tanker Drivers he deployed to quench the fire manually.
In the future measures to stop reoccurrence of such, Igwe Umuna, an American trained Technocrat, urged the Governor to provide the Hospital with adequate security by providing a police post around the school and Fire Service.
However, efforts made to reach the Institution’s CSO, Emmanuel Ogoh and the CMD, Dr Ifeanyi Nwamba proved abortive.
