Brief – More than 200 houses were set on fire in Ajiri town in the Mafa Local Government Area in Borno State on Monday morning, January 3, when a kerosene stove was left unattended.

Ahmed Ashemi, a resident, told RNI reporter Mustapha Abubakar that the fire broke out when a women left her stove to separate a fight between two youths. Her house was engulfed by flames and the fire quickly spread to other houses. He said there were no firefighters, so residents used sand to quench the fire. No one was injured. Most of the residents were on their farms when the fire began.

The Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) provided blankets, mats and clothing to the victims, who were forced to sleep inside their burnt structures, using veils and sticks for cover. Others sheltered in unoccupied houses. SEMA has promised to help repair the houses.