A truck conveying goods worth N500 million from various markets to Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday caught fire after it downed an electric cable crossing the highway.
A witness, Alhaji Adamu Tanko, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birnin Kebbi, that the truck pulled down a cable across the high way, sparking fire which engulfed the truck.
Tanko said the truck was completely burnt, but the driver and his assistant escaped.
The eyewitness disclosed that bystanders called the Kebbi State Fire Service, which promptly responded and saved a few of the goods.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the scene reports that the truck was chartered by about 100 retailers from various markets in Birnin-Kebbi.
The goods had arrived from Sokoto, Kano, Ibadan, Kaduna and Lagos States and were being transported to their owners.
The NAN Correspondent was told that some of the goods included: motorcycles, textiles, electronics, tiles, fans, generators, provisions, engine oil, vegetable oil, and others.
One of the retailers, Alhaji Faruq Hamidu, told NAN that the traders who chartered the truck lost almost all their goods.
“The truck carried about N800 million worth of goods. However, from the receipts we gathered from our colleagues, we got N500 million goods bought by individual traders.
“We have also set up a committee to ascertain the worth of all the goods lost in the incident and as I am speaking with you now, they are still receiving more receipts from the affected businessmen,” Hamidu said.
He pleaded with the state government to come to the aid of the affected traders to shield them from bankruptcy, stressing that many of them collected loans to purchase those items.
The Police Public Relation Officer, Kebbi Command, DSP Danjuma Possy, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with NAN.
Possy said the incident happened along Jega-Birnin Kebbi Road at about 11 a.m. but no lives were lost in the incident.
“It is true that the truck had contact with a live cable across the road, it caught fire but the driver was able to detach the trailer head, leaving the truck behind.
“So all the goods in the truck were burnt. But no life was lost in the incident,” the PPRO said. (NAN)
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
