Femi Folaranmi Yenagoa,
An early-morning fire incident which gutted and destroyed the two studios of the Bayelsa Broadcasting Service, Radio Bayelsa, has forced the station to go off air.
The Breakfast Show was on air when the fire incident started from the transmitter and spread to the studio and the accounts department.
“The breakfast show was on when there was a sound like an explosion then suddenly the lights in the studio went off. We thought it was normal power failure and power would be restored until we heard sounds like big rats moving in the ceilings. This made us rush outside to see what was happening and we realise that the studio was already burning from the top.”
It was an herculean task for men of the Bayelsa State Fire Service to contain the fire as there was only a driver on duty in the morning who had to drive two trucks one after the other.
The fire further spread to the second studio and the accounts department due to the leaking horse of the fire service which allowed the waters to leak.
Some government officials including the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson; the General Manager of the station, Dr John Idumage; the Special Adviser Events Abuja, Mr Ono Akpe and the Senior Special Assistant, Mr Ekio Benson were among the early callers at the station.
Idumage however said the management would probe the root cause of the fire as there were suspicious that it could be a sabotage.
According to him, the sound of an explosion before the fire could be interpreted that that some persons who are not happy with some recent decisions of the management could be behind plans to sabotage the station.