By; SADIQ ABUBAKAR, Maiduguri
Traders are licking their wounds and counting losses as another Maiduguri famous market, Gamboru market has been consumed by fire disaster yesterday morning.
The source of the fire outbreak was yet to be ascertained as at time of filing this report, but good Samaritans and vigilante groups including the CJTF and residents were seen busy making frantic efforts to put off the inferno as fire fighting vehicles were yet to arrive, despite the emergency.
However, it would be recalled that Maiduguri city, the state capital of Borno State suffered similar fire incident about nine months ago, when the Maiduguri famous Monday Market was engulfed by similar fire outbreak that left property and other valuables worth billions of Naira destroyed during the election period.
The fire incident attracted sympathy of individuals and organisations within and outside the state, leading to over N7 billion was expended in reconstructing and redesigning as well as decongesting the market alongside disbursement of over N5 billion cash to over eight thousand traders in the market including wheel barrow pushers and roadside sellers at three different occasions by the state government, North East Development Commission (NEDC), individuals and organisations among others, before and after the reopening of the Monday Market two weeks ago.
Although, investigations revealed that, it is on record for over a decade, that the issue of fire disaster in markets within the state capital, Maiduguri City and its environs, is almost an annual event due to congestion, lack of sanitation, poor electricity wiring, lack of functional fire service stations at the markets and lack of adequate parking space for visitors, among other factors.
CJTF sources that spoke to our correspondent close to the scene of the inferno at Budum, said, “we are also at a loss to how the fire started at the market. And you know the market is full of shops and stores with cartons, leather and nylon or plastic items.
“The fear is the fire may go far and reach other places within the market, if fire fighters are not mobilized to arrive on time as the fire is too much for us to put off with water or sand. You can see residents and passers by are all overwhelmed and just watching the fire.
“Yes. Nobody can stop the boys or youth from looting. There is the possibility of such acts, but you can see we are stopping children and even the youth from going near the market.
“They can easily enter the market through other routes, even though there are also CJTF stationed in some places, there but children and youth may over power them to go and loot shop owners property inside the market. It is possible because it has happened in the past, but all we are after is quick intervention before everything becomes uncontrollable,” eye witnesses said.
At the time of filing in this report, the fire service vehicles were yet to arrive the scene of the inferno at about 8:43am.
