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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Traders at the popular Nkpor Main market in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, near the commercial city of Onitsha, are now counting their losses, following a fire incident that ravaged a section of the market.
The fire incident, sources said, sparked off at about 2am, early yesterday, and brought down over 30 shops before the traders mobilised themselves and managed to put it off at dawn.
Confirming the incident, Chairman of the market, Chief Paul Okafor, told newsmen in his office, yesterday, that the fire exploded from a cold room shop and spread to other nearby shops.
Okafor, whose wine shop was also gutted by the inferno, said the fire affected shops loaded with paints, curtains, gum, shoe leathers, shoe polishes, wines, hot drinks, thinners, among others, adding that although at the time of this report, the final estimation of the total goods damaged had not been determined, a rough sketch showed that the value of burnt goods would not be less than N300 million. The market leader lamented that all the phone calls put across to the state fire service did not yield any dividend, as they did not show up until the traders mobilised and put it off very late.
He, therefore, called on the state government to station some fire fighter vehicles under the flyover bridge at Nkor main market, to serve the three major markets within the vicinity, including New Auto Spare Parts Market, Mercedes Benz Lorry Okd Spare Parts Market, New Tyre Market and the Main market in any fire incident.
He also called on the state and Idemili North local governments and public spirited individuals and groups to come to the aid of the affected traders, in order to bounce back to business as soon as possible.
In his message to the traders, a patron of Anambra Markets Amalgamated Traders Association (ASMATA) and President, Building Materials Traders Association, Chief Jude Nwankwo, expressed his heart-felt sympathy for the victims and called on government, individuals and groups to assist the victims.
Nwankwo suggested that market leaders should provide fire extinguishers in their various markets to mitigate the effects of fire disasters, particularly at nights, using their night guards to operate the fire extinguishers if fire breaks out at nights, while waiting for fire servicemen.
