People suspected to be hoodlums looted as fire razed popular supermarket, Next Cash and Carry in Jahi District, Abuja,
The inferno which occurred on Boxing Day caused confusion in the area as people were seen scampering for safety.
The inferno was caused by an electrical surge, a worker at the supermarket said.
They said it started from the first floor of the building around 8am on Sunday morning.
One of them who spoke to journalists accused the fire service of getting to the scene late.
He said, “The fire started around 8am. We called the fire service but the firefighters did not arrive on time. We made attempt to put out the fire but we couldn’t find the key to the fire truck stationed at the supermarket. The fire won’t have escalated if they had arrived on time. The fire was caused by an electrical surge.”
The FCT Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Ben Igwe, said the police were there to ensure the place is adequately secured.
He added that the place was barricaded to discourage hoodlums from looting the store.
Igwe said the cause of the fire cannot be immediately ascertained.
The FCT fire service, Federal Fire Service, the Fire unit of the Nigerian Navy and Guards brigade, and fire trucks from Julius Berger were on the ground trying to quench the fire as of the time of filing this report
However, our Correspondent gathered hoodlums and street urchins carted away goods worth millions of naira at the mall.
Many people were seen running inside the mall despite the heavy presence of police and raging fire to help themselves empty the massive shopping mall.
