Traders at the Ekiosa market in Benin, the Edo state capital, face a bleak Christmas following the afternoon fire that razed the market on Saturday.
It was gathered that goods worth hundreds of millions of naira were destroyed in the fire that lasted several hours before the fire service guarded by combine team of security agencies put out the fire.
It was gathered that the fire started around 12pm from the goat section and spread to all parts of the market and the nearby Edo State Property and Development Agency Building and destroyed documents and property worth millions of naira.
State fire fighters and those of the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company who arrived about 30 minutes after the fire broke out were chased away by traders in the belief that they may give special attention to the government-owned building.
A trader who gave his name as Edosa, said he was at home when they heard people shouting about a fire in the market.
“We all ran into the market and discovered that the shop that was burning was locked. So we could not do much to put out the fire. And before we could say jack, it (fire) has spread to other shops,” he said.
Speaking with journalists at the scene, the state commissioner for Youth and Special duties, Damian Lawani, lamented, ” Thirty minutes after the fire broke out, the state fire service and two from the NPDC came but the youths attack them and they had to run back. The Army fire fighters, UNIBEN and Delta state were able to come after we had mobilized both army, police and Airforce to the scene. When we called the NPDC, they told us that their boys were injured during the attack.”
“The new twist is worrisome because the youths are out to loot property instead of sympathising with victims. If they had not attacked the fire fighters we brought in 30 minutes after the fire started, most of the property would have been saved.”
Meanwhile, the chairman, Oredo local government area, Jekins Osunde, who sympathised with the traders assured that the council would meet with them to see how to cushion the effect of the fire on them.
He said government would work with other stakeholders to find lasting solution to the sequence of fire incidents in the local government.
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