Goods worth billions of naira were destroyed in the early hours of yesterday when fire gutted a building in a section of the Ekiosa Market in Edo State.
A victim, Comrade Sani Yalubu, who is also the caretaker of the building, said, “The fire started around 2am. We don’t know the cause of the fire. 20 shops were affected and all the goods were destroyed.
“Traders and Bureau de Change (BDC) operators had shops here. Aside from the goods, dollars, euro and other international currencies, as well as the local currency, were burnt to ashes.
“Nobody took anything out of their shops: provision, electronics, generators, among others.
Another trader, Ugochimary Francis, who lamented that she lost over N1m in the fire, said, “We couldn’t do anything when we came because the fire was too much.”
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She further said, I had a shop here and my mother also had a shop. I sell cosmetics and other articles. They called me at about 2am that our shops were on fire but before we could reach here the fire was such that no one could go near it.’’
Others who also spoke on the incident called on the state government to assist them in starting a new life.
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