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Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
It was a sad Sunday and a bleak Christmas ahead for traders as early morning fire razes shops and goods worth millions of naira in popular Ekiosa market in Oredo local government area of Edo State.
It was learnt that the fire started by 10am on Sunday while most of the traders have already gone to church.
It was also gathered that efforts by the fire brigade to extinguish the fire was unsuccessful as angry traders chased them away because they prioritize the government- owned EDPA building to theirs.
The early morning inferno that lasted for six hours was jointly extinguished by men of the UNIBEN fire service, Delta state fire service and the Nigerian Army school of supply and transportation.
According to eyewitness, the fire started around the first gate of the market, spread very quickly destroying shops and commodities before it was brought under control by the firefighters
A traders who deals on provisions, Oke decried that three of her shops got burnt as a result of the slow response by the government and firemen.
“I was in church when I received a call from someone that there is fire in the market and I rushed down see if I could savage any of my goods but unfortunately, my three shops got burnt.
As at the time of filing this report none of the traders were able to ascertain the cause of the fire, however, some said it was generated from a generator in one of the shops.
