By Praise Chinecherem
The popular Nkpor Main market in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra state, near the commercial city of Onitsha has been gutted by fire.
The inferno which occurred Wednesday, reportedly affected a section of the market.
Our correspondent gathered that the fire had already razed about 30 shops before the traders mobilised and managed to extinguish it before the arrival of men of the state fire service.
Confirming the incident, Chairman of the market, Chief Paul Okafor said over N300 million worth of goods were damaged in the inferno.
He disclosed that the fire started from a cold room shop and spread to other nearby shops.
The market leader, whose own wine shop was also gutted, said the fire affected shops loaded with paints, curtains, gum, shoe leathers, shoe polish, wines, hot drinks, and thinners, among others.
The market leader lamented that all the phone calls put across to the state fire service did not yield positive results as firefighters did not show up until the traders mobilised and put the fire off.
He called on the state government to station some firefighting vehicles under the flyover bridge at Nkpor main market to serve the three major markets within the vicinity.
He said, “Goods worth over N300 million were damaged in the inferno and the traders are now counting their losses. This is not good for this Yuletide.
“We call on the state and local governments and public-spirited individuals and groups to come to the aid of the affected traders to bounce back to business as soon as possible.
A patron of Anambra Markets Amalgamated Traders Association and President of Building Materials Traders Association, Chief Jude Nwankwo, expressed his sympathy for the victims and also called on government, individuals and groups to assist them.
He advised market leaders to provide fire extinguishers in their various markets to mitigate the effects of fire particularly at night.
The state Fire Chief, Martin Agbili could not be reached for comment as calls to his telephone line indicated it was switched off.
