Reports have that an 80-year-old woman was burnt to death at the weekend when fire razed down about 50 houses in Tse- Agubor Gyaruwa of Tsambee-Mbesev Council Ward in Gwer West LGA of Benue State.
Speaking to newsmen, the Village Head, Chief Ayatse Agubor, revealed that the inferno began at about 10am when the villagers had already gone to their farms.
While attributing the fire to bush burning, the Village Head said his octogenarian mother who was killed in the fire could not get anyone to assist her out of her sick bed as at the time the fire broke out.
According to a resident of the village, Hajia Kongo, who lost over 10 bags of maize, soya beans, clothes and other household items, including N110, 000 hidden in her bags, appealed to well-meaning individuals and the government to come to her rescue.
Reacting to the incident, the caretaker Chairman of Gwer West LGA, Henry Agba, said his council would no longer allow bush burning in the area.
He emphasized that a team would be assigned to assess the level of destruction to enable the council report to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for further action on the incident.
