A fire has destroyed several shops belonging to the Police Officers’ Wives Association (POWA) in Ekpoma, Edo State, barely a day after violent protests over rising cases of kidnapping unsettled the town.
The Edo State Police Command confirmed the incident on Monday, dismissing widespread social media claims that a police station in Ekpoma had been set ablaze as false and misleading.
According to the police, the fire broke out on Sunday morning at the POWA shopping complex within the Ekpoma Division. The Command’s spokesperson, ASP Eno Ikoedem, said the incident was triggered by an electrical spark shortly after power supply was restored by the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC).
She explained that the spark ignited one of the shops and the flames quickly spread to adjoining stores, destroying an undisclosed number of businesses before emergency efforts brought the situation under control.
“Swift intervention by police personnel, working alongside members of the public, helped to contain and extinguish the fire, preventing further escalation,” ASP Ikoedem said, adding that no lives were lost. The value of the property damaged has yet to be determined.
The police spokesperson strongly condemned what she described as the deliberate circulation of unverified reports suggesting that a police station had been attacked. She warned that such narratives were capable of inciting panic, undermining public trust and destabilising the security environment.
The clarification followed the circulation of a viral video on Facebook which claimed that a building close to the police station on Barrack Road, Ekpoma, had been completely gutted by fire. In the footage, a narrator alleged that all the stores along the road were destroyed.
Police authorities maintained that the video was misrepresented and urged the public to rely on official sources for accurate information, particularly during periods of heightened tension.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Edo State, Monday Agbonika, reassured residents that the security situation in Ekpoma remains calm and under control. He appealed for restraint and encouraged citizens to disregard rumours capable of fuelling fear or confusion in the community.
