Dare Babalola
A 52-year-old man has lost his life in a devastating late-night fire that engued a short-let apartment building on Coca-Cola Road, Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
It was gathered that the incident occurred around 11:38 p.m. on Thursday in the Lafia Hotel area, where a building used for ‘short-let’ purposes was completely gutted by fire.
The Kwara State Fire Service’s Public Relations Officer, Hassan Adekunle, stated on Friday that the fire affected a non-conventional residential building with two three-bedroom flats on Coca-Cola Road, Ilorin.
“The Kwara State Fire Service responded to a fire outbreak at Lafia Hotel, Coca-Cola Road, Ilorin, at about 23:38hrs on Thursday, 27th February 2026.
“It was an apartment used for short-let purposes, not a residential building. The building consists of two flats with three bedrooms each, and all the rooms were affected by the fire”, the statement partly read.
The PRO noted that the entire structure was heavily filled with smoke at the time of the outbreak, making it extremely difficult for occupants to escape.
The fire service confirmed that one male victim, yet to be identified, lost his life in the inferno.
“Tragically, one life was lost in the incident; an unidentified male, estimated to be about 52 years of age.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire was attributed to a power surge, as the outbreak reportedly occurred immediately after power supply was restored, leading to rapid fire spread across the building,” the agency added.
Firefighters reportedly arrived promptly and succeeded in bringing the blaze under control within minutes, deploying three fire appliances to contain the inferno, with additional support from the Federal Fire Service.
The Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Alabi Muhammed, expressed deep concern over the loss of life and urged property owners, particularly operators of short-let apartments, to prioritise electrical safety measures to prevent similar tragedies.
Recall that on February 12, men of the Kwara State Fire Service recovered the lifeless body of an unidentified man from a river along the Osin/Laduba axis of Ilorin West Local Government Area.
The body was later handed over to the State Ministry of Environment for further action.
