Calabar - A trader at Etim Edem Market, Calabar, Donatus Ugbo, says he lost
goods worth more than N2.5 million to the fire that gutted his two shops
in the market on Thursday night.
Ugbo told the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) on Friday in Calabar that the fire was allegedly caused by an
apprentice who lit a candle in one of the shops at about 8 p.m.
"When
we closed from the shop in the evening, I sent one of my boys to come
and pick something in the shop.
"But instead of
the boy going straight to pick the item, he decided to light a candle. While he was searching for the item, the candle light strayed to a
carton in the shop and began to burn without the boy knowing and it
spread to other items," he said.
Ugbo said he
made several calls to men of the State Fire Service but they failed to
respond citing lack of functional vehicles. "I made several calls to
the fire service but they said that their vehicles were not functional.
"But later men of the State Emergency Response
Unit came to help us in putting out the fire. Although the fire was
later put out, the damage had already been done and I lost goods worth
more than N2.5 million, ‘’ he said.
NAN reports that almost all the
goods in the two shops were destroyed by fire. An official of the Office of the State Fire Service, Anthony Ofem, said he was not aware of the incident.
"I
am not aware of any fire incident or whether calls were made to our
office as I was not on duty, ‘’ he said. NAN reports
that Etim Edem Market, located within a Motor Park, is an offshoot of
the main Watt Market in Calabar metropolis.
- NAN