About 15 shops have been gutted by an inferno that left properties worth millions of naira destroyed at the New Motor Park in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.
The inferno began at about 8:30pm on Friday and continued till the following morning.
Our correspondent observed that the intense heat of the raging inferno repeatedly drove back the firefighters and delayed their efforts in bringing the situation under control.
Traders, whose shops were not affected by the fire, were seen removing their goods from the building.
A trader, Stephen Egbo, said the fire destroyed his goods worth N3million and appealed to the state government as well as kind individuals and organisations to come to their aid.
The owner of Christiana Aikwu Trading Store, Mr Bass Kunmilayo, who deals in soft drinks, said the fire gutted his goods worth N10million.
On his part, a motor spare parts dealer, Optima Okechukwu Paul, said his four shops with goods worth N7million were completely razed.
The director of fire service in the state, Hanetu Danladi, said investigation had begun to determine the cause of the incident.
