May 19, (THEWILL) – Owners of shops affected by the mysterious fire, which gut the popular Itam Market in Akwa Ibom State capital on Tuesday night, are counting losses, as goods worth over N2 million were burnt to ashes before help could come.
Sources in the market told THEWILL that fire gutted some shops in the popular market, which is a few kilometers from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State Capital, destroying goods worth millions of Naira.
The cause of the inferno could not be ascertained as at press time, as THEWILL gathered after visiting the scene on Wednesday, that there were no electrical connections in the area of the market.
No fewer than eight locked up shops were affected and two out of the number were razed completely with goods inside, before the arrival of operatives of Fire service.
It was gathered that the fire incident, which occurred about 9pm, could not escalate to the entire market following the efforts of the youths of the area who mobilised themselves to break some shops and evacuate some goods before the fire was put out.
One of the victims, Mr John, who deals on stationery, narrated how he lost everything to the fire and did not know the next line of action
“I left the market around 7pm and by some minutes past nine, one of the security men called me that my shop was on fire, I rushed down to this place immediately, I was devastated when I saw that everything in my shop had gone.
“Fire service people were here when I came, but I couldn’t remove even a pin from the shop. Honestly I don’t know where to start from”, He narrated.
Another victim, Aniekpeno Akra, said he got a similar call from people, but on arrival, he discovered that the havoc had already been done.
THEWILL correspondent in Uyo, said heaps of burnt grains, tins of tomatoes, heaps of books and other metals were seen at the scene of the incident.
The chairman, board of trustees of the traders union in the market, Elder Godwin Ebong, in an interview, expressed dismay over the incident, adding that the union has commenced investigation into the matter.
He said preliminary investigations have not revealed the real cause of the inferno, as no electrical wiring is connected in the shops.
According to him, “till now, we cannot ascertain the cause of the fire outbreak, we have conducted our internal investigation and have not discovered the source, we are still hoping that few days from now, we will find out what happened.
“About eight shops were affected, but two were critically affected. You see there are no electrical connection in the shops to say maybe wire has touched or sparked and caused the fire outbreak.
“Occupants of some of the shops sell grains; like rice, beans, the other one sells stationery. Personally and collectively, we don’t know the cause of the fire outbreak and so many goods have been destroyed.”
Ebong noted that as soon they got wind of the inferno, the union contacted men of fire service, who came within 45 minutes to put out the fire from causing further damage in the market.
Ebong, who pleaded support for the affected members, said the union has reached out to both the local and state governments, even as he thanked God that the incident did not assume fatal status.
Also, the Special Assistant to Governor Emmanuel on Trade and Investment, Mr Idorenyin Raphael, when contacted confirmed the incident, saying that he immediately called the commissioner for works and fire service, who in turn ordered his men to the scene, hence the immediate intervention.
“Yes it’s true, the incident happened yesterday and I called the Commissioner for works and fire service, who send his personnel, within 20 minutes they were on ground to arrest the situation”, the Governor’s aid noted.
