Maiduguri Market Fire: Gov Zulum promises N1 billion for victims (Video)
Aftermath the devastating fire incident that razed the popular Monday Market, the largest market in Borno State in the early hours of Sunday, the state governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has promised a N1 billion relief for the victims.
READ ALSO: Fire razes Monday Market in Maiduguri (Photos & Video)
Also, the governor says he will see the President, Muhammadu Buhari immediately for more relief and also urged humanitarian organisations for assistance.
Neptune Prime reports that the state Director of Fire Service, Umaru Kirawa who confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that the state, federal and other fire units from various institutions have joined to contain the inferno.
“We have fully deployed to contain the situation,” Kirawa said.
It was gathered that the inferno started between 2:30am and 3am.
According to Punch, hundreds of traders scampered with whatever wares they could save from their shops to avoid losing everything in case the fire spreads.
“I lost everything in my five shops,” Alhaji Abubakar Isa, dealer of second-hand clothes narrated in tears adding, “I cannot immediately estimate the cost of my losses, but I can tell you that it is over N30 million.”
Another trader, Musa Sulaiman whose shops were affected sells home decoration items such as rugs and suitcases.
He said, “The two shops were all razed down, and I lost everything,” he told our correspondent in a guttural tone, estimating the cost of his losses at “nothing less than N50 million.”
Alhaji Modu Kijimi lost his two shops of empty sacks. He was too emotionally devastated to estimate the cost of his losses.
Alhaji Sani Idris Hausari, a major livestock dealer who has five shops of live chickens, guineafowl, and pigeons said he lost all his birds. He could not estimate the cost of his losses.
“Livestock sellers have lost about 20 shops with hundreds of birds,” he confirmed.
Tens of security agents, mainly soldiers and police, had been deployed to guard the market against the perilous infestation of looters.
Teargas was intermittently sprayed to scare away the crowd of people flooding into the still-burning market intending to loot properties.
Meanwhile, a youth in the area said, “Soon after the fire flared up, criminals began to trickle into the market, looting shops.
“I can tell you that hundreds of millions of naira worth of properties have already been looted.”
This is the third time over the last 20 years that the fire razed down Maiduguri’s Monday Market.
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