A fire outbreak that lasted a little over an hour on Friday night razed down 117 shops at the Kugiya new market in Jos-south Local Government Area of Plateau State.
It was gathered that the fire was noticed a few minutes after 9pm at a time the market had closed and there was no electricity.
Chairman of the market union, Comrade Emmanuel George, told our correspondent that over 280 table positions and over 80 ground positions for traders were equally affected by the fire incident while about 50 shops were vandalised by criminal elements.
Comrade George said he was notified of the incident around 9:30pm, adding, “though men of the Fire Service did not arrive the market immediately, they did their best and were able to put out the fire around 10:30pm.”
He further said, “we don’t know the cause of the fire because everyone had closed and there is no electricity in the market. However, the section of the market that suffered the most is the vegetable, grain as well as provision section.”
The Chairman described Kugiya as the largest market in Jos-south and called on the government and other citizens to come to the aid of affected traders.
“This is where the less privileged members of the society come in search of their daily bread. The local government chairman and some commissioners have already visited to assess the situation, we are now waiting for Governor Simon Lalong who is expected to visit today (Saturday),” he said.
Aliyu Yahaya who owns a shop in a separate section of the market said it took a combination of Fire Service trucks from Bukuru and Jos to put out the fire.
Yahaya said, “I was not at the market when the fire started but when I arrived around 10pm I heard some people saying the fire started from a Barber’s shop.”
The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Tyopev Terna said except for properties destroyed in the fire incident, no life was lost.
