The Maria Assumpta Cathedral Catholic Archdiocese, Owerri, Imo State, on Sunday night went up in flames.
An eyewitness said the fire started around 11:48 pm and affected only a section of the main church building and many equipment.
A Catholic Priest, who pleaded anonymity, said that it was caused by an electrical fault.
“The fire was not that much. It was as a result an electrical fault. It started from a room in the church where most of the wire connection was done. It damaged so many things. You know there was no how a fire will not damage something.
“By God’s grace, the fire did not go far, with the efforts of other people in the church and passersby it was put off. So it’s just an electrical fault,” the priest said.
An eyewitness who assisted in putting off the fire said: “When the fire started we heard an explosion from the area.
“There were sparkling electrical wires and the next was the fire. It could be those electronic gadgets and musical instruments in that section of the church building. We thank God that it was not much. We saw it was an electrical fault.
“Many people came and assisted to extinguish the fire and lucky enough we succeeded in quenching the fire.”
Father Ray Nzereogu, Director of Communications for Owerri Archdiocese and the Director of Ozisa Radio confirmed the incident to our correspondent.
He said the organisation would issue an official statement on it.
