Far North: Fire ravages over 100 homes in Oudjila

By Pavel Joseph

Hundreds of inhabitants in Oudjila, a locality near Mora in the Mayo-Sava division of the Far North region, have been rendered homeless, following a fire incident whose cause is yet to be determined.

The wild flames led to huge material damage though no lives were lost. The palace of the Oudjila chieftaincy was razed down with all historic artifacts burnt.

Most of the affected families that spoke to reporters said the sizes of their households made the impact immensely felt.

“I have 12 wives and 28 children. As tradition demands here in Oudjila, each wife had their own sleeping hut with a kitchen. All of this went up in flames” Salomon Oumar one of the victims said.

The chief of the community who is widely known to have over 100 wives felt the brunt of the fire incident.

Besides being rendered homeless, several inhabitants will now have to start thinking of how to establish new documents which all went up in the flames.

“My national identity card, my birth certificate including those of my children got burnt” a victim lamented. “We need help, we lost everything” another added.

The population is now left to sleep in the open while hoping help comes from the government and goodwill persons.