Billions of naira lost as fire razes markets in Ondo, Anambra •NBC depot in Uyo affected

An early hour fire outbreak in Akure, Ondo State, on Thursday destroyed shops and food items worth millions of naira.

The fire incident which lasted for several hours,  according to a source, was reportedly caused by electrical fault.

The source disclosed that no life was lost in the incident that occurred at Egbe Street in Ayedun, Akure, but said it took the timely intervention of some of the residents of the area to put out the fire.

He listed some of the items destroyed in the inferno as rice, beans, tubers of yam, palm oil, pepper and vegetable oil, among others,  while a viewing centre close to the shops was also razed by the fire.

Another source, however,  said that the outbreak might not be unconnected with the recent electrical installation in one of the shops, alleging the use of inferior cables.

One of the shop owners, Mrs Abiola Ojo, explained that she received a call at about 1:00a.m. informing her of the incident but said her shop was razed before she got to the scene.

Also, a midnight fire on Thursday razed part of the Nnewi Timber Market in Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra, destroying goods and machines worth billions of naira.

Eyewitnesses told NAN that five traders in the market collapsed and were rushed to hospitals due to shock of losing their valuables in the inferno.

The chairman of the Nnewi Timber Dealers Association, Chief Chukwunonso Nnetu, said that a security guard in the market alerted him about the inferno some minutes past midnight.

Nnetu explained that fire fighters in Awka, Nnewi and Onitsha fire service stations were immediately contacted to put out the fire.

“We lost about 155 shops; 555 sawing and curving machines valued at N2 million each were destroyed, while different categories and quantities of woods and planks were also lost to the inferno.

“We don’t know the exact cause of the fire, but we have lost well over N3 billion to the inferno,” he said.

Also on Wednesday night, fire gutted the depot of the Nigerian Bottling Company office on  Abak Road, Uyo.

Eyewitnesses told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that goods worth  millions of naira were lost in the inferno.

The Uyo depot manager, Mr Benjamin Uche, told NAN that the cause of the fire was yet unknown.

Uche said that he was yet to quantify what the company had lost to the inferno.

Meanwhile, the Bauchi State Fire Service said on Thursday that 41 people died in different fire incidents in the state in 2016.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported  that a statement signed by the spokesman of the service, Abubakar Bala made this known to newsmen on Thursday in Bauchi.

According to him, 172 lives were also saved within the period under review.

The report further stated that property worth over N619 million was lost while other property worth N223 million was saved from fire within the same period.