Fire destroys goods worth N40m in Yobe market

Fire destroyed goods worth over N40 million at Potiskum market in Yobe.

Alhaji Nasiru Mato, Chairman, Traders Association in the market, made this known to our correspondent in Potiskum on Tuesday.

He said the incident which occurred on Sunday at about 8 pm, lasted for over three hours.

Mato said over 80 shops filled with bicycles, used clothes and yams were destroyed by the fire.

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 during closing hours.

“But we suspect one of our guards may have lit the fire to stay warm due to the cold weather,” he said.

Mato said the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had visited the market and promised to support those that lost their valuables.

The chairman appealed to the state government to provide fire engines in the market to forestall future occurrence of the incident.

“If there was a fire fighting vehicle attached to this market, the damage would have been minimised.

“Immediately the fire started, we reached out to fire fighters in Potiskum and Nengere. Unfortunately all their fire engines had broken down,” he said.