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By Madu Obi
A midnight fire at the A. T. D line of the building materials market, Bridge Head Onitsha, Anambra State has destroyed goods worth billions of naira.
Two siblings, Chigozie Akabuogu an Iron and steel dealer, and his sister, Mrs Onyinyechi Ezekwu said they lost goods worth N35 million and N25 million respectively.
Additionally, Akabuogu lamented that N1 million cash he left in his shop was burnt to aches.
Four shops were completely razed, while about eight others suffered various degrees of the inferno.
As the fire raged, youths in the area and other neighbours came out in large numbers and assisted in controlling the fire with water and detergent.
The affected traders, who looked confused, wondered why such tragedy should befall them at this economic hard time.
In an emotion - laden comment, Akabuogu said: "I got a call in the middle of the night from some friends who live close to the market that my shop with goods worth over N35 million was on fire.
"They also told me that the shop of my sister who deals on accessories, was also destroyed and she has goods worth over N25 million in it.
Two other victims, Ikechukwu Benjamin who deals on Royal Drail and Rolling Doors, and Godwin Nsofor, who deals on saw dust, expressed dismay over the incident, calling on government to provide fire hydrants in the market.
Nsofor attributed the fire outbreak to electrical fault, lamenting that all the woods he sawed for his clients were consumed by the fire.
The secretary of Amalgamated Timber Dealers Association, Mr. Augustine Ezekwugo, said they had not experienced such incident in the market, assuring that proper investigation would be conducted to unravel the cause of the incident.
He advised the traders to always ensure that they switch off all electrical appliances before leaving the market to avoid re-occurrence.
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