FRESH FM Nigeria and Yinka Ayefele Limited group, a renowned radio station based in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, has announced that its head office in Challenge, Ibadan, was destroyed in a devastating fire incident on the evening of August 15, 2025.
The Group Head of Corporate Affairs, Samson Akindele, revealed this in a statement released on Saturday a few hours after a staff member, Sanuel Ibikunle Arugboboisi, raised the alarm on his Facebook page on Friday night, appealing to emergency responders and members of the public for urgent intervention.
“We are sad to inform the general public that the head office of Fresh FM Nigeria, Challenge – Ibadan was razed by a devastating fire incident this evening, August 15, 2025.”
Akindele explained that the studios of Fresh 105.9 and Blast 98.3 were severely damaged by fire, with nearby facilities such as the newsroom, transmitter, server room, and various equipment also being destroyed during active operations.
“All efforts to fight the fire, before the arrival of the professional fire fighters, with our in-house fire extinguishers proved abortive because of the strength of the inferno.
“We can’t immediately quantify the extent of the damage caused by the devastating inferno, the cause of which is also yet to be ascertained presently,” Akindele said.
The Head of Corporate Affairs expressed gratitude to Nigerians who helped combat the inferno.
The ICIR reports that this latest incident adds to the challenges the media outfit has experienced in recent times.
Recall that the Fresh FM building formally ‘Music House’ was demolished in August 2018 by the former Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, despite a subsisting court directive restraining the state government from going ahead with the exercise pending the determination of the case.
The governor had justified the demolition of the ‘Music House’, insisting that the building contravened the laws of the state, and one cannot be allowed to get away with illegality just because one has a disability, or has employed people in one’s firm.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.