Fashion entrepreneur, Jane Maduako, who lost her business estimated to be worth N40m to fire, speaks to VICTORIA EDEME about the trauma she experienced after the incident
How did you hear the news of the burning of your cloth factory?
It was on a Sunday, December 17, 2023. My two kids and I got back from church and decided to visit my business place at No. 19 Okokwu Street, Mile 3, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I own a female clothing brand called Dress Faculty. Business activities for the year were supposed to end in three days on December 20, and we had so many orders to send out of the state. So, I decided to go to my business premises to pack up the orders. I wanted to keep them in my car boot before Monday when I could take them to the motor park for delivery. I got to work around 3pm.
When I got to the shop, my four female workers were sleeping. I then sent one of them to go and turn on the generator since there was no public power supply. They told me that they would need to top up the generator with diesel since they used it to work the day before. I asked them if the diesel in the generator was up to half of the tank and they replied in the negative. I told them that they shouldn’t top it up since I just wanted to pack orders and power would soon be restored. There’s always power supply in the community where my shop is situated. So, they turned on the generator, and 35 minutes later, it went off by itself. The girl who turned on the generator said she should go and top up the diesel. I insisted that she should not, since I was almost done with what I was doing. Twenty minutes later, one of my workers said she wanted to relieve herself outside and go and buy something downstairs because my shop is situated on the first floor of a one-storey complex.
What happened next?
Most times, when we are inside on weekends or non-working days, we always lock the protector. So, when she got to where she was supposed to open the burglary, according to what she told me, she saw smoke downstairs and some guys had gathered around. She ran back because she was not with the key to open the burglary. She came to me and told me that there was smoke downstairs. I was surprised. I came out from the workshop where I was packing the orders and followed her. Before we got to the burglary, we heard an explosion. Four workers, my two kids and I were inside the workshop at that time. Immediately we heard the explosion, we all ran back. We started looking for water so that we could put out the fire. The fire had already started downstairs and people had gathered. There’s only one exit and one entrance into the complex downstairs and since the fire had started there, there was no way we could leave the premises.
How did you eventually manage to escape?
People who gathered downstairs were already shouting and asking us to jump because of the intensity of the fire. I was so surprised and even felt that they were overreacting. I wondered where the fire and explosion came from, but we had no option but to find a way to evacuate the premises. One of my girls was the first to jump downstairs. When the second one jumped, it was remaining me, my children, and two other girls. By the time I entered back into the shop to look for water or fire extinguishers, my two workers had jumped, leaving me and my children. I then begged onlookers to come close and help me catch my children as I wanted to throw them from the first floor. They came close and I threw my son, they caught him. After throwing my daughter from the first floor, I was left alone there.
The people were shouting that I should find a ladder to jump. I ran into the workshop and brought out a ladder, but the indoor ladder I had was short, as it was mainly used inside the shop. I threw the ladder down, but it didn’t get to where I was. I wanted to jump then I remembered that I wasn’t with my phone. As I ran back inside to go and pick up my phone and my bag, I heard another explosion. It was so loud. Immediately I heard it, I turned back and I saw fire inside the shop. Immediately I ran out and jumped down. When I jumped, I started looking for my children, because I didn’t even know the people I threw them to in the confusion. There was no familiar face there. After looking for them, I then saw my children with one of my girls. I took my children from her and wanted to start making calls. My girls told me that I should leave the area, so they could call the fire service to come and extinguish the fire. Then I went to a corner and saw one of my friends. Seeing my friend was the last thing I remembered. I only woke up and saw myself in the hospital hours later.
How did you move from the shop environment to the hospital?
I knew that I was unconscious because I could remember how I got there. I had fainted and was brought to the hospital. It was later that same evening that I regained consciousness. It was the impact of the fire that made me unconscious. It was so traumatising. Even when I was leaving the scene to stay in a corner, I kept turning back and seeing fire on the roof of my workshop. I was shocked and confused that everything happened so fast. How did the fire downstairs get to the roof? When I woke up in the hospital, I didn’t see my children with me. My friend had taken my kids, so I was in the hospital with other friends. When I enquired about the fire, everyone was lying to me that it had been extinguished even before the arrival of the fire service men. I asked them how much the fire consumed and I was told that it was just the portion I saw. That’s what they kept telling me.
Because my blood pressure was very high, the doctor advised them to tell me that everything was okay. So, they kept on telling me that the fire didn’t consume a lot. The next day when I got discharged, I demanded to be taken to the shop. My husband lied to me that my uncle locked the shop and left with the keys. I believed them then. I didn’t know they were lying about the extent of damage that the fire had done. My husband then said we should go to my uncle’s house and collect the keys, so we could go to the shop to see the extent of the damage. When I got to my uncle’s house, they were behaving awkwardly. They started closing the doors, telling me to sit down, and asking me if I had eaten. I was suspicious but hoped that nothing bad had happened to my children because I hadn’t seen them then.
When I asked about the children, I was told that they were at my friend’s house. Shortly after, they finally let the cat out of the bag, telling me that everything in my shop got burnt and not even a pin was saved. I was told that the fire service came about two and a half hours after the inferno started and everything had burnt down already.
What was your reaction on hearing the news?
I started crying after hearing the news. I was so devastated and cried a lot. I learned tailoring 21 years ago when I was in junior secondary school 3, but I officially started my business in 2011. This is my 13th year in business, but I’ve been at my current business place for eight years. I had run my business in two other places before. My business had also reproduced four other businesses under it.
What other businesses were affected by the fire?
It was just the first floor that housed my business that got burnt in the complex and a town hall beside it. A church and a sachet water factory on the ground floor were not affected. It was the sachet water factory that kept those explosive chemicals that caused the explosion. Our generators were kept downstairs but the water factory owner kept drums of ethanol, butane, and diesel close to the generator.
According to eyewitnesses, what caused the inferno?
Upon regaining consciousness and receiving the news of the loss of my business, I visited the area to find out the cause of the fire. An eyewitness, who said he was sitting opposite the shop before the incident, said shortly after my generator went off, he saw smoke in the compound.
When he saw the smoke, he entered the compound to find out the cause of the smoke. He saw fire, like candlelight, inside my generator. So he went into the conveniences to fetch water so he could extinguish the fire, but there was no water there. According to him, he decided to remove the tarpaulin used to cover the generator, only to find out that it had caught fire.
Out of fear, he threw the tarpaulin away but unfortunately, it landed on the drum of ethanol that was kept beside the generator. Fire entered the drum and that led to the explosions that were heard before the ravaging fire started. He said he didn’t know that the drums were filled with such chemicals, adding that he thought they were empty.
He had to jump the fence to escape from the scene. The fire jumped from one ethanol drum to the other and there were about six drums there. All the drums exploded. I was still wondering how the fire affected my shop upstairs till I was told that the drums were exploding like gas.
When the fire touched a drum, it would fly up and explode with fire. That was how my shop was affected and everything was destroyed. These are what I heard. I still don’t know if the incident was sabotage or if it was simply an accident. The church and pure water factory on the ground floor were not affected by the fire, that’s why I’m so confused. The fire even burnt the tiles on the floor of my shop. Right now, an integrity test is being run on the building to see if it should be brought down.
How much was your shop worth?
The workshop costs between N40m to N45m because of the heavy pieces of equipment inside of it. I had weaving machines. We had a kitchen where we stayed to take breaks. Inside the kitchen were a microwave, freezer, and other equipment. There was a waiting area for our customers. It was more like a fully functional factory with air conditioners. We sell fabrics and ready-to-wear clothes. My generator alone cost N7m and it got burnt. I had a room for my photo shoots, which housed boxes of wigs, clothes, and other props that my models wore. My workshop is a very big hall, but we partitioned it. I have 23 members of staff. I pay N1.5m for rent yearly in that community. I have about 32 industrial sewing machines and each costs N250,000 now. We had over 200 customers’ clothes to deliver and 17 kiddies’ ready-to-wear for our New Year collection. All these and more were burnt to the ground.
How has the incident affected you?
I’ve been very frustrated because I started this business when I was very young. I’ve put in my all. I learned the business in secondary school and was building it in my university days. I didn’t enjoy most of my youthful days because I was busy building up my brand. The business grew itself and everything it became. I don’t save money in the bank and the money the business generates for me, I put it back into the business. Before the incident, I’d already bought stock for January and February, now it’s all gone. I just thank God for friends and family because maybe I would have committed suicide when the incident happened because it was a whole lot for me. I’ve been advised by my friends to put up a post to seek assistance from people online because I don’t have any money to restart the business again.
Now, my landlord has said that we should restructure his building to how it was. He’s saying we should build back the complex to how it was. I have explained that I did not burn the place down. I don’t have any big car or property anywhere. This business was all I got. I was feeling sad that I would now become a beggar online but I had to do it because I cannot be broke and shy at the same time.
Did you suffer any trauma from the loss of your business?
Definitely! I still suffer from panic attacks. I intermittently wake up and keep screaming ‘fire’. Even my children are traumatised by the incident. A few days ago, my neighbour was burning old books and my three-year-old son screamed when he saw the smoke. He came to me, crying and sweating, saying, ‘Fire, mummy I’m scared’. My kids are so traumatised. Even when they watch movies, they still scream when they see fire. Even my customers may be traumatised too because some brides’ clothes that we were sewing for their wedding also got burnt. Even some women having children’s dedication, their clothes were burnt. I know my customers will soon come for me too. It’s very traumatising.
How have you been assisted after the incident?
I’ve been receiving assistance from my family and close well-wishers. One of my friends opened a GoFundMe account for me but only 10 people have contributed so far. I appreciate those 10 people and others who have tried to contribute money for me. I don’t mind starting small again because staying back home is very frustrating. Right now, it’s only money that can solve my problems. I hadn’t even paid my workers when the incident happened, and I’ve not even settled with the landlord. Once I get money, I can start something small again because it was the building that got burnt, not my talent. I believe I can pick up again.
