Evans Damiete, the youth president of Abonema Wharf Town, has denied media reports that the fire incident in the area on Friday, was due to the storage of illegally refined products by ‘Kpofire’ operators..
Evans in a statement today, said the fire was due to an electrical fault.
The youth president pleaded with the state government not to demolish the area, as residents would lose their means of livelihood.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness who spoke to our correspondent, said the fire was caused by the carelessness of an alleged kpofire operator, after he threw a lit cigarette close to stored petroleum products in the area.
He explained that the products exoploded and resulted to the fire, which was put out out by firefighters after it had destroyed goods worth millions.
You would recall that the Mayor of Port Harcourt, Allwell Ihunda had blamed the fire incident on activities of illegal oil refiners, and promised to begin demolition of shanties in the area today.
