Chairman Narrates How Mystery Fire Destroyed Multi-Million Naira Items

Journalists have been told how a mystery fire gutted three warehouses in a building leading to loss of multi million naira worth of items.

The incident happened at the Margaret Umahi International market, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, The Eagle reports.

Assistant superintendent and Head of Operation of the Federal Fire Service, Mr Walter Ibiam, said that cause of the inferno could not be ascertained at the moment.

According to him, firefighters were deployed immediately with trucks of water to the scene of the mystery fire, but despite efforts, goods and other items of several millions of naira worth were still lost.

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“We arrived at the scene of the incident after an hour thirty minutes of the fire because they did not alert us on time, it is a challenge.

“Imagine, even with all the sensitisation to the residents, to have emergency numbers of fire fighters in case of fire incident, but still they did not call us on time”, he said

Ibiam, who called on government to assist in providing chemicals and other essentials for fighting fire, also advised the public generally to take safety measures seriously.

Providing a perspective to losses, the Chairman of Lot 1 section of the market where the incident happened, said he received a distress call that there was a fire incident at the market at about 3am, and that he immediately alerted both the state and federal fire services.

According to him, though fire fighters arrived the scene promptly, the fire had already affected some items.

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“The fire partly affected the building and goods on the first and ground floors.

“It destroyed warehouses where food items like noodles, tomatoes, macaroni and other stuffs in cartons are stored”, he said.

The Eagle reports that fire incidents are not a rarity across Nigerian markets. Last March 10, 2023, a fire outbreak destroyed four motor spare parts stores with goods worth over N10m in Aba, Abia State.

Also on March 21 it was the turn of the White House section of the Onitsha Market, popularly called ‘Gbongboro as it was ravaged by fire.

Aside assertions of mystery fire, congestions and general non-adherence to fire safety rules have usually been fingered for such fire incidents.