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Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Traders who lost their shops and wares to an inferno at the Building Materials International Market in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, have continued to count their losses.
It has been estimated that goods worth over N100 million were destroyed in the fire.
The reporter gathered that over 12 shops were razed in the fire, which started around 3am from a parked vehicle loaded with goods in the market. Firefighters eventually arrived the scene and they stopped the fire from spreading to other shops.
The traders had closed for the day and gone home, unaware that fate had other plans in stock for them. Some of the traders allegedly left some cash in their shops, which was consumed by fire.
Some of the victims came to the market in the morning, with the hope that they would open their shops and start their daily business. Unfortunately, they discovered that their shops had been razed. Some others said they were woken up by distress calls about the fire outbreak in their shops. Still others who lived close to the market rushed to the place but met their shops on fire and could save a pin.
One of the victims, Mrs. Chinelo Chukwu, a 49-year-old widow who was weak and in tears told Daily Sun that she just finished mourning her late husband who died last year and resumed business a few weeks before the fire incident.
Mrs. Chukwu, who owned a chemist’s shop in the market, said she just stocked her shop days before the inferno. She said she lost over N3.5 million worth of drugs and equipment to the fire.
“When I came back after staying at home for some time, mourning my late husband, I stocked my shop and brought in new goods to know whether I would cope with the money that well-wishers contributed for me. But now everything has turned to ashes,” she said.
“I lost over N3.5 million worth of drugs and equipment to the fire. My shop was filled up because I went to the market two days ago to stock my shop with drugs. I want government and good-spirited individuals to help me. How can I feed my family now? I was already owing the house rent and shop rent before the incident.”
Another victim Mr. Obinna Obinwa, who was into plumbing material and also worked as a plumber, said he lost over N2.5 million worth of goods and tools to the fire.
“We are begging government to come to our aid because we have lost what we used to feed our family,” he saud.
Another victim, Uchenna Obieze, the vice chairman of the market task force, said he was a dealer in plumbing materials. He in stated tat he lost over N7 million to the fire.
Hear him: “I was at home when my friend called me to tell me about the fire incident in the market. So, because I’m not living close, I rushed to the market at about 4.30am, but the gate was still locked and the security men kept us out until about 6.30am. So, when I entered, I saw my shop completely burnt. They said that the cause was a parked vehicle. But that vehicle was there when they loaded it and nothing happened until when everybody had gone home. So, I don’t know the truth about the cause of the fire.
“The chairman of the market is a good man; he brought so many fire extinguishers to stop the fire and we have good security in the market. But even with all these things in place, the fire still occurred. I have been paying my taxes as and when due. I also pay development levy for my shop. The fire has destroyed some of the receipts. So government should help us to start life again because I have my wife and four kids to take care of.”
A young man, Chinwendu Ugwuogbonna, who started business in November last year, said he lost everything, including cash and wares worth over N1.5 million.
“I was called on phone at about 3am, but before I got to the market, the fire had burnt my shop. I know how I suffered before I started the business, which has all been destroyed now. Government should please help us, no matter how little, so that we start again.”
A trader who came to buy goods from Jos in Plateau State, Mr. Emmanuel Eze, said he lost his goods inside the lorry where the fire emanated from. He estimated his losses at over N3 million.
“I came to buy goods and I had finished buying and loaded them inside the lorry that was to carry it to Jos while I would join another bus to go back the following day when the fire occurred. I had bundles of zinc, shovels, cartons of chemical gum, doors keys and other accessories that were destroyed by the fire inside the lorry. There are other people that own some of the goods inside the lorry. All the goods there should be worth over N50 million.”
The president of the market, Mr Jude Nwankwo said the lorry where the fire started was loaded with goods worth N50 million, adding that the vehicle and goods were to be taken to the Northern part of the country. He said the fire from the lorry spread to the shops close to the vehicle.
Nwankwo said it was the prompt intervention of the state’s firefighting officials that saved the situation and limited the razed shops to just 12. He said the situation would have been more disastrous but for their intervention.
“We cannot, for now, ascertain the cause of the fire but it started from a parked lorry loaded with goods. We have a fire-fighting truck and fire extinguishers in the market. Though the fire started about 3am, the security men and others around tried their best to stop the fire but due to the chemical packed in the lorry, the fire kept raging.
“The lorry housed some chemicals that made the fire to last longer than necessary. The fire service men mobilised more trucks and officials from nearby stations to contain the fire. In short, it was our efforts that stopped the fire from spreading, because it would have engulfed the entire market.
“We appeal to the state government to come to our aid to help the victims that lost their goods to the fire. They don’t have any other livelihood or means of survival apart from the shops. Their goods, shops, vehicles and cash were destroyed in the fire. The goods inside the vehicle were worth over N50 million, because the lorry was loaded with costly goods like zinc and other building materials. The government has been assisting the traders; they stationed fire-fighting truck at the market. I don’t know what is happening. Everyday, the news is about fire.
“If somebody tells me that this kind of a thing would happen in this market. I would say the person was lying because of the adequate measures that we put in place to checkmate fire in the market. We have fire extinguishers in all the lines in the market. We have no fewer than 100 fire extinguishers in the market but the fire started at odd hours when there was nobody at the market.”
The Anambra State fire chief, Mr. Martin Agbili, who immediately mobilised the fire service officials to the market, said that the fire outbreak emanated from a loaded lorry parked inside the market.
“Our firefighters and fire trucks at Onitsha and Awka were deployed to the fire scene. No life was lost during the fire,” he said.
