Fire destroys properties worth billions in Minna market

Properties and cash worth billions of Naira were on Sunday morning destroyed when fire gutted Abdulkadir Abdullahi Kure Ultra Modern Market in Minna, the capital of Niger State.

No fewer than fifty, 50, shops were completely razed by the inferno, which was reported to have began around 1am.

Fire service men reportedly came to the scene but could not do much to control the situation.

The incident was blamed on the use of generating sets because as at the time of the incident, there was no light from the normal electricity supply channel.

The Niger State Deputy Governor, Ahmed Ketso, has already visited the market to sympathize with the affected victims, where he held a meeting with the Executive of the market, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and Niger State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, to take inventory of what was lost in each of the shops with the view of coming to their aid.

Mr Ketso directed them to compile the list and access everything through Chanchaga Local Government Area to the agencies, which would be forwarded to the state government immediately for appropriate action.

He also urged them to take it with good faith, praying that such will not happen again.

Channels TV reports that most of the victims lost millions of Naira in cash due to public holidays and weekend as they could not go to the bank for deposits within the period while expressing bitterness over lack of fire fighting equipment in the market for prompt response.

One of the affected victims, who lost about 40 million Naira cash in foreign currency (Dollars), Mr Salisu, was said to have collapsed on his arrival at the market and was rushed to an unidentified hospital for urgent attention.

But an eyewitness told the medium that Salisu had changed the currency so as to travel to Togo between Saturday and Sunday (January 2 and 3) to purchase goods.

The victims, however, appealed to the State Government and relevant agencies, to as a matter of urgency, come to their aid.

They called on the state government to also help them renovate the building and assist them financially.

"We are appealing to government at every level and other relevant bodies to please assist us renovate the shops urgently before other assistance can be rendered, so that we can start afresh because we lost everything," one of the victims said.