Tunde Bolaji – Minna.
An early hour fire outbreak on Thursday has wrack havoc at Mokwa Central Market in Niger state where goods, mostly food items worth millions of naira have been destroyed by the fire .
Our Correspondent gathered that now fewer than four persons especially the traders who slept in their shops sustained various degrees of injuries and were taken to Mokwa General Hospital for medical attention.
The Paramount Ruler of the town, the Ndalile-Mokwa, Alhaji Mohammed Shaba told Our Correspondent that the fire which started at about 4am had razed down half of the market.
“The fire started around 4 o’clock in the morning. They called me and I called the fire Service. They have been trying to put off the fire but because of lack of tanks, as I am talking to you, the fire is still on.” He said.
He said some hoodlums also took advantage of the raging fire to steal goods but four of them had been apprehend.
According to him, “this is a rural market where foodstuffs are being sold in abundance. And we are a bridge between the north and the south in terms of supply of foods. More than half of the market is gone.”
One of the traders simply identified as Etsu-Kpo Mokwa said markers were counting their losses, Describing the incident as devastating.
“It will take many traders years to recover from this disaster. We are still counting the losses. Fire service officials are still doing their best to put off the fire.” He said.
