Traders at the rice mill market located at Wurukum by the River Benue Bridge in Makurdi, Benue State, are urgently calling for assistance following a devastating fire that destroyed multi-million naira properties. The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, resulting in significant losses before the state fire service intervened to prevent further damage to nearby shops.
The fire consumed several shops filled with both processed and unprocessed rice, along with essential processing machines. One affected trader, Mrs. Mercy Hanmaikyur, expressed her distress, revealing that she had only opened her shop in December and had invested approximately N10 million. Tragically, she lost all her equipment, including a de-stoning machine and a rice polishing machine, as well as numerous bags of rice.
Another trader, Iorwa Jeremiah, lamented the timing of the fire, which left him with nothing to salvage. He recounted receiving a distress call during the night and arriving at the scene to find the fire already consuming his shop, despite the efforts of firefighters who arrived shortly after.
The Chairman of the Wurukum Rice Mill Market, Terva Igyar, confirmed that several shops were destroyed, including a motorcycle and approximately six milling machines, alongside numerous bags of rice. He stated that he was in contact with officials from the Makurdi Local Government Area and other stakeholders who promised to assess the damage before providing an estimate of the total losses.
The traders emphasized that electricity was not a factor in the fire’s cause, as their shops were not connected to any electrical supply. They are now appealing to the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, for assistance to help them recover from the significant losses they have suffered. One of the traders remarked, “We appeal to the state government to assist us recover from the massive destruction we experienced in this incident.”
