The Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation, Glory FM, was on Tuesday morning razed by fire that was allegedly ignited by spark from the control room of the station.
Blueprint learnt that the sections of the station that was razed by the inferno included – accounts office, live studio, recording studio, control room and confidential documents electronics, furniture among others.
A broadcaster who was on air at the time of the incident, Mr. Victor Binawari said:”I was doing my breakfast show ‘Rise and Shine’ when the lights went off.
“I felt it was a minor technical issue we could fix, so we had to put on our touch lights and went on with the program because the monitor indicated that we were still on air.
“It did not take lang before I heard rumbling in the ceiling as if rats were up there chasing themselves. While I was wondering what was happening, one our interns ran into the studio to alert us that the station was on fire.
“It was at that point I asked my guests to be calm and follow me out of the building. Only for us to get outside the studio to see that the building was seriously on fire.”
However, several attempts to have the fire chief that led the team of fire fighters to comment on the extent of damage of the inferno proved abortive as he said he was not authorized to speak.
One of the earliest birds at the scene was the road safety commander Ikechukwu Igwe and his men who gallantly joined men of the fire service to contend with the inferno.
Also the commissioner for information and orientation Mr. Daniel Iworiso Markson who was accompanied by a top media aids of Gov. Henry seriake Dickson while addressing newsmen after the fire was brought under control, commended the courage and effort of firefighters and sympathizers that brought the fire under control.
He further said “we are grateful to God that no life was lost. As a government, we are going to set up a committee to look into the root cause of the incident and report to the Governor for action. The state government would ensure that the station comes back on air as quick as possible.”
