21st December, 2010
By Adi Femi/Kaduna
A part of the Kaduna Central Market was yesterday gutted by fire. The fire destroyed more than 100 shops and properties worth millions of Naira.
Those affected are palm oil, cloth, chicken and plate sellers. At the market named after the late Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, traders were seen counting their losses. Some of the traders lamented their losses, saying the fire had destroyed their businesses and made it impossible for them to make money during this Christmas period.
Though there was no specific information as to when the fire started, witnesses alleged that the fire started around 1a.m. Monday. The witnesses also said it was possible that an electrical problem in one of shops must have caused the fire that left more than one hundred shop owners gnashing their teeth and wailing at the scene of the disaster.
However, another witness disclosed that the fire must have started from a food seller who did not put out her fire before leaving the market.
Fire fighters were able to put out the fire an hour after it started, thus reducing the level of shops that would have been affected.
Chairman, Kaduna Markets Development and Management Company, Ambassador Sule Buba, who visited the scene after the fire had been put out assured shop owners that the state government would compensate those who lost their shops and goods in the fire.
Buba who said he has not been briefed on the immediate cause of the fire and the value of properties destroyed, urged traders affected to exercise patience until the management carried out a thorough investigation of the cause of the fire and the value of properties destroyed.
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2010 P.M.News