Students at Bayelsa Medical University in Yenagoa were thrown into panic on Wednesday night after a fire broke out in one of the rooms at the female hostel, destroying laptops, documents, clothes, and other personal belongings. No casualties were recorded.

The fire, believed to have been triggered by an electrical fault, is the latest in a series of incidents raising serious concerns about the state of electrical infrastructure within the facility. A similar fire had occurred on 5 July 2023, when a blaze broke out at about 6:40 a.m. and was traced to an electrical spark that started while a student was ironing her clothes.

A 400 level Nursing student recounted how the Wednesday night incident unfolded shortly after 9 p.m. "I slept around after 9 p.m. Less than 20 minutes later, I started hearing people shouting. At first, I thought it was just another one of those regular electrical sparks we've become used to in the hostel," she disclosed. "After the previous fire incident, there have been a series of sparks. People would shout, but we often felt we were overreacting. So I initially stayed calm. But then my roommate kept screaming 'fire!' That was when I jumped up and ran out in shock. This time, the room was seriously burning."

She further revealed that efforts to contain the fire were hampered by non-functional equipment and inadequate water supply. "I ran downstairs and saw a girl with the fire extinguisher, but nothing came out; it was empty. She tried the tap, but water was only dripping," she said. "The hostel gate was also locked, which made escape and rescue more difficult. We've been begging the school authorities to keep the gate open, at least during the day, but they always cite security reasons."

A second 400 level Nursing student confirmed that male students had to break open the back gate to assist in containing the blaze before fire service personnel arrived. "By the time we came out, the room had burnt to ashes. The fire extinguisher didn't work. The boys had to break the back gate to gain access and help put out the fire. Before the fire service arrived, we had already quenched most of it, but all the students' belongings, documents, laptops, clothes were destroyed," she stated, adding that school management appeared to be deflecting responsibility rather than addressing the defective electrical system.

A 400 level Medical Laboratory Science student noted that repeated incidents had dulled students' responses to fire alarms. "Fire is no longer new to any BMU student. Last week, there was a fire incident; this week, another fire," she remarked. She added that she rushed back into the smoke filled building to retrieve her WAEC certificate and other valuables despite the hazardous conditions.

A 300 level Optometry student who returned to the hostel during the incident described arriving to find bunk beds ablaze and students rushing out carrying buckets.