Collapse Of An Iroko Tree Spreads Fear In Nsukka Town

Wonders, they say, shall never end. This aptly described how a gigantic Iroko tree, mysteriously ignited fire on top of itself amidst heavy down pour last week at the University town of Nsukka, Enugu State and collapsed after several hours of the raging inferno.
Crime Alert gathered that the incident surprised residents of Nsukka on how a burning fire could be possible on a live tree while standing, amidst a heavy rainfall in the night of that fateful day. The eventual collapse of the tree created scene as people thronged Orba Road, Nsukka to have a  glimpse of the strange live burning tree which has never been witnessed before.
Mysterious collapse
The existence of the tree popularly called “Ukwu Oho”(sacred tree)dates back to the 17th and 18th Century. It had lived along the popular Orba road, Nsukka.

         *The remains of the tree and it’s root

Indigenes of Amukwa Community where the tree is located kept sealed lips over the circumstances surrounding it’s mysterious collapse. Those who spoke on  condition of anonimity stated that the tree lived before the birth of all the inhabitants of the community. An Octogenarian, Ezugwu Samuel, who managed to speak to Crime Alert  disclosed that he was about 14 years in 1948, the year locust sealed the sky, and the Iroko tree was as big and old as it looks presently upon its collapse which tells that it would be very difficult to ascertain the life span of the tree.
In his words, “I was born and grew up to meet the Iroko like this. No living soul can tell the history of the Iroko unless gifted soothsayers. In the locust year of 1948, this tree was as old as it looks; you can imagine how long it had lived on earth. How fire caught its top still remains a mystery.  The Iroko cut itself at the stem; the roots are still firm in the ground which could be interpreted to mean that it has not died completely. It may erupt again, nobody can tell,” he noted.
Giving more insight into the potency of the tree, the octogenarian disclosed that nobody holding any branch of it would dare tell lies in any given matter, else such person dies. Ezugwu said that he is about 80 years but still could not give a  detailed account of the tree which had lived before the birth of his late father.
It was learnt that few days before the collapse of the mysterious tree, vultures and other birds allegedly said to be a sign of bad omen, perched at the branches, hours later a branch pulled down and a prominent indigene of the community allegedly died.
When Crime Alert visited the mysterious tree, it was still burning since it collapsed while people troop to the area wondering what could be the after effect of the mystery of the tree.
Another Octogenarian, John Nwugwu told Crime Alert that nothing would be done with the firewood from its remains as it was a sacred tree, explaining that the highest thing was for the community to park it while nobody torches it. “We are scared over the collapse of the Iroko especially as it caught fire on top of it before it collapsed half way, meaning that the roots that are still fresh would erupt fresh tree by the side. I do not believe it has died. I do not know its significance to the community since I was born and up to my present age of about 70 years, the tree has remained there.”
Anonymous: An anonymous elderly man who is not a native suggested consulting an oracle.