Goods worth millions of naira are said to have been lost in a fire incident that engulfed over 100 shops at the popular old Panteka market located near the Tudun Wada Campus of the Kaduna Polytechnic.
Our correspondent gathered from market leaders that the fire affected mostly the wood sellers section of the market.
The Secretary of the market union, Ibrahim Muhammad confirmed to our correspondent that the fire started a few minutes after 12 midnight and the fire service were able to stop it from spreading to other parts of the market.
He said, “Based on reports from the security in the market, the fire started some few minutes after midnight, early Wednesday morning from the wood sellers section in the market.
“It took the intervention of the fire service from Jaji to put off the fire which lasted till 5am. Over 100 shops have been affected and the loss is unquantifiable at this time.”
He however noted that the cause of the fire had not been ascertained.
The Chairman of the market union, Alhaji Suleiman Shehu expressed shock over the loss and said the affected traders will need the government’s support.
While commending the effort of the fire service, he noted that a committee has been set up to find out the cause of the fire and to also forestall a reoccurrence.
According to him, “Millions of naira has been lost because these traders bring in wood in trailers. The sad thing however is that most of the traders collect the goods or credit and pay after the sale while others collect loans from the bank for capital.”
He appealed to the government to support the affected traders especially during these hard times.
