Hamzat has been an
ardent critic of the state government, an act that got him arrested on the
orders of the immediate-past governor, Abiola Ajimobi.
The multi-million
naira studio of Oyo State-based investigative broadcaster and activist, Oriyomi
Hamzat, has been razed by fire.
The fire also
affected his office located along the Iwo-Ibadan Road in Monatan area of
Ibadan, leaving Hamzat in deep loss.
Hamzat has been an
ardent critic of the state government, an act that got him arrested on the
orders of the immediate-past governor, Abiola Ajimobi.
Irked by the
reporting of his corrupt activities, Ajimobi in 2018 ordered operatives of the
Department of State Services to arrest Hamzat, while broadcast equipment he
used for his online radio were seized by the security agency.
The fire, which
started from the roof of the studio, raised suspicion of involvement of the
government in the inferno.
Narrating the
incident, Hamzat said he received a call from one of his staff, who alerted him
to the incident.
He stated that
broadcasting equipment worth over N70m were destroyed in the inferno.
He said, “I was on
air doing my public enlightenment programme and at 11am when I signed off from
the programme, I received a call from one of my boys informing me about the
fire.
“He said he was
climbing the stairs going to the studio when he heard a sound from the studio.
“He ran into the
studio and when he opened the door to the place, there was a fire and he
couldn’t go in. He jumped down from the second floor of the building to escape
the fire.”
Hamzat disclosed
that the cause of the fire was unknown as all power sources in the building
were turned off.
He lamented that he
was unable to take any equipment or gadget from the office as the fire started
from the studio.
He said, “I could
not pick a pin from all we installed in the office. We are talking about N70m
to N100m.
“I have some
high-end investigative equipment which I bought for N7,000,000 and kept in the
office.
“I intended to use
the equipment for some investigation when I launch the radio but everything in
the studio got burnt and I could not pick a pin from the office.
“We have perfected
the plans to migrate from online radio to terrestrial radio.
“Our studio is
Nigeria Broadcasting Commission standard, which we made use of NBC accredited
engineers.
“What we were
waiting for was the final approval and license from the NBC.”
Director of Oyo
State Fire Service, Moshood Adewuyi, who confirmed the incident, said his
officers were alerted to the fire around 11am.
He said, “It is true
that the studio of the online radio station caught fire this morning; the place
was under locks and keys when our men arrived the place.
“None of the workers
of the radio station were around at the time of the outbreak. You know, a
studio is always padded with foam, that aggravated the fire.
“The transmitter,
the studio equipment and office materials at the station were damaged by the
fire.”
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