Fire wreaks havoc on Warri market, destroys goods worth millions of naira

The economic stay of traders and shop owners at Ogbe-Ijoh market and Concrete Jetty Waterside are in ruins as goods worth millions of naira were destroyed following a fire outbreak.

Ogbe-Ijoh Market and Concrete Jetty Waterside in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State have often been gutted by fire.

The cause of the fire which has not been ascertained, according to eyewitnesses, started at about 4:00a.m on Monday.

As of the time Nigerian Tribune got to the scene, there was a huge crowd of sympathisers while affected traders were sighted examining the wreck that their goods had become.

The inferno, which recorded no human casualty, destroyed several shops in a row, consisting of bars, tailoring stores, hairdressing salons and warehouse for building materials.

One of the traders, Mrs Queen Odumba, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune requested for  urgent help amid tears, explaining that she was called around 6:00a.m and before she got to her shop, everything had been burnt to ashes.

“Na around 6 o’clock them call me say market dey burn. As they call me, naim I rush come dey pray make e no affect my shop but before I reach here, everything don burn.

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“Na materials I dey sell and everything wey dey the store reach about N700,000 to N800,000.

“By the time wey I come, fire still dey burn. Fire fighters wey dem call, water finish for their tank, dem con wait for another motor before dem come off am.

“Till now, we never still know wetin cause the fire. I no know where I go start from and e never tey wey I build the store oo,”she lamented.

Other traders, who wore long faces, refused to speak, as they were still licking their wounds and counting their losses.

One of the fire fighters, who declined identifying himself, said they tried their best within available means to curtail the raging fire from spreading to other parts of the market.