Goods, valuables destroyed, traders injured as fire razes Mokwa Central Market

Goods, mostly consisting of food items and other valuables were destroyed by fire which occurred in Mokwa Central Market in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State in the early hours of Thursday.

Tribune Online gathered that about four traders who slept in their shops sustained varying degrees of injuries and were taken to Mokwa General Hospital for medical treatment during the incident which occurred around 4:00 a.m.

The traditional ruler of the town, the Ndalile-Mokwa, Alhaji Mohammed Shaba, disclosed that the fire razed more than half of the market.

According to him: “The fire started around 4 o’clock in the morning. They called me and I quickly made a call to the fire service personnel. They responded to my telephone call and informed me that they were overwhelmed because of lack of water tanks. In fact, as I am talking to you, the fire is still raging at the market.”

Alhaji Mohammed Shaba stated further that some hoodlums also took advantage of the situation to steal goods, stressing that about four of them were apprehended by law-enforcement agents at the scene of the incidents.

One of the traders at Mokwa market who simply identified himself as Etsu-Kpo Mokwa said traders at the market ere already counting their losses, describing the incident as devastating.

The trader added that most of them suffered great losses while some were yet to ascertain the actual value of the goods lost to the early morning inferno.