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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Lamentations and tears were the order of the day at Masaka Market today where traders are counting their losses in billions. This is even as they accused the Nasarawa State Government for complicity.
Up till the time of writing the story, no one knows the source of the fire. While some people suspect those cooking in the market, others concluded that it came from the meat section.
Meanwhile, most traders are pointing fingers at the Nasarawa State Government for the cause of the fire because the government had made several attempts to take the market over.
According to them, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura Administration attempted to take over the market but the traders resisted him legally and traditionally.
Daily Sun learnt that apart from N15,000 contribution by each trader in the market, Gbagi women protested naked and walked round the market, swearing that the market was their ancestral market and no government was permitted to take it away or relocate it.
A trader who pleaded anonymity told Daily Sun that the whole traders in the market contributed N15,000 each for the case. The matter, he said, is still in court.
“We contributed N15,000 each for the case. They even attempted to take it over in 2017 through fire but the inferno was not as devastating as this one. Now, they have found a good reason to perfect their plans” a trader lamented
Another trader said that what was stolen was far more than was the fire consumed.
“As I was retrieving my goods and keeping them in one side, other people were carrying them away You will see them carrying your things but you cannot pursue them because if you do, others will take what you have already gathered” he said
One trader (in tears) told Daily Sun that she lost goods worth over N20 million in her store together with a cash of N5 million.
Ironically, while some people were in agony, scavengers were busy making brisk businesses, picking metals and selling them to buyers even at the spot of disaster.
Recall that the market has been an object of legal tussle between the government and the traders on one hand and between the government and Gbagi indigenes on the other hand.
Whereas the traders refused to relocate to International Market where the government spent billions to construct stalls, the indigenes claimed that the market is their ancestral market.
