A fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday at the well-known Nkpor Main Market in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, close to the bustling city of Onitsha. The blaze had already destroyed around 30 shops before traders managed to extinguish it prior to the arrival of the state fire service.
The chairman of the market, Chief Paul Okafor, confirmed the incident to reporters in his office. He explained that the fire originated in a cold room shop and then spread to other adjacent shops. He estimated that goods worth over N300 million were lost in the fire.
Chief Okafor, whose own wine shop was also affected, stated that the fire damaged shops stocked with items such as paints, curtains, gum, shoe leathers, shoe polish, wines, hot drinks, and thinners, among others.
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He expressed disappointment that their calls to the state fire service did not result in immediate assistance, as the firefighters did not arrive until the traders had managed to put out the fire themselves. He appealed to the state government to station some firefighting vehicles under the flyover bridge at the Nkpor main market to serve the three major markets in the area.
He said, “We call on the state and local governments and public-spirited individuals and groups to come to the aid of the affected traders to bounce back to business as soon as possible. Goods worth over N300 million were damaged in the inferno, and the traders are now counting their losses. This is not good for this Yuletide.”
Chief Jude Nwankwo, a patron of the Anambra Markets Amalgamated Traders Association and President of the Building Materials Traders Association, expressed his sympathy for the victims and urged the government, individuals, and groups to assist them. He also suggested that market leaders should equip their markets with fire extinguishers to mitigate the effects of fires, especially at night. #Anambra