Fire destroys 84 shops in Yobe market
By Bala Dauda, Damaturu
No fewer than 84 shops were destroyed by a fire outbreak at Potiskum Market in Yobe.
Our correspondent learnt that the mysterious fire engulfed a part of the market in which used clothes, bicycles and yams were sold.
Alhaji Nasiru Mato, Traders Association’s Chairman in the market, said goods worth over N40 million were lost to the inferno.
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He said the incident which occurred on January 8 at about 8 pm, lasted for over three hours.
The chairman said although the cause of the fire was yet to be determined, it had no links with electricity.
“ It has no link with electricity because we usually disconnect the source of electricity in the market on closing hours.
“ But we suspect one of our guards may have lighted the fire to stay warm due to the cold weather,” he said.
The Chairman appealed to the state government to provide fire engine to the market to forestall future occurrence of the incident.
“ If there is fire fighting vehicle attached to this market, the damage would have been minimal.
“Immediately the fire started, we reached out to fire fighters in Potiskum and Nengere Unfortunately all their fire engines had broken down,” he said.
