SPECIAL REPORT Tears and anguish as fire guts 150 shops in Zaria

By Femi Oyelola

The ancient city of Zaria, Zazzau Emirate in Kaduna State has been thrown into confusiom and mourning following the inferno that gutted over 150 shops in the popular ‘Yan Katako’ Market in Sabon Gari.

The Tsunami-like fire which started in the early hours of Wednesday, April 26, destroyed shops and property estimated to run into billions of Naira.

An eyewitness, Ibrahim Dan Magaji, said the fire started around 1a.m, when there were no people in the market except few security men who couldn’t do much to save the situation.

Corroborating Dan Magaji, a local official said, “the fire spread to other shops in the market and that efforts to attract fire service agencies within the area were not successful.”

Speaking to Journalists on the incident, the Chairman of Timber Dealers Association, Alhaji Ali Ashiru, said the fire started around 1.45am and according to the security guards on duty when electric power was restored in the area, electric wires hamging on the poles sparked, resulting in the fire outbreak.

He said that for the past six years they had not witnessed any fire outbreaks in the market; noting that efforts put up by people to stop the fire from further escalation was what helped the situation.

While lamenting the usual ugly scenario of ‘no vehicle, no fuel’ in the Fire Service operations at the Kofar Doka station when they were contacted, they had to buy fuel for the Federal Fire Service Station at Sabon Gari main market, despite the intervention of Alh. Ibrahim Mai Gold Chairman Sabon Gari Market Association.

However, when contacted on phone the Officer in-charge of Zaria Fire Service, Malam Umar Mohammed, denied the alleged, claiming that they don’t have a vehicle on the ground and he confirmed that it was when the electricity power was restored that the incident occurred.

But in a sharp reaction, the Head of Corporate Affairs, Kaduna Electric Company, (KEDCO), Abdul Azeez Abdullahi, denied that electricity sparks caused the inferno.

According to him, reports received indicated that the fire incident started in one of the shops in the market, where no less than 150 shops were destroyed at the ‘Yan Katako’ Market in Sabon Gari Zaria

However the frequent fire outbreaks that have ravaged several markets across the country are preventable if the government and traders could team up to put preventive measures.

For instance, power fluctuation, which has been blamed for some of the fires, could be curtailed if the markets are left without public power supply and the use of generators strictly regulated.

Sympathizers who trooped to the scene said it was not the time to trade blames, but to rather find a solution to the disaster that has befallen the market.

Similarly, a community woman leader, Hajiya Laraba Hassan, called on the Kaduna State Government and other well-meaning Nigerians to come to the aid of the traders in order to reduce their losses.

Observers say it was high time that government at all levels, fire service agencies, electric distribution company, and other stakeholders woke up to their responsibilities to curb the escalating numbers of infernos especially at the marketplaces.

According to them, this is necessary because there is hardly any state in the federation that has not experienced one market fire incident or another on recent times. They added that fire disasters ravaging markets with attendant loss of lives and millions of Naira worth of property destroyed has compounded the suffering and poverty in the land.

The catalogue of fire disasters is long and worrisome.

The Ladipo market in Lagos incident, Bodija plank marker fire disaster the Onitsha fire incident as well as the Ilorin market inferno in Kwara state is still fresh and it is even reported that some of the traders have suffered health and mental challenges because of these incidents.

They argued further that to bring succour to the victims of inferno people concerned should follow the steps of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State who on Wednesday, 26th April, 2023 donated N25 million to the victims of Bodija plank marker fire disaster that occurred on Tuesday, 25th of April, 2023.

The governor equally informed the affected traders that the Ibadan

North Local Government Council will undertake the rehabilitation of the inner roads in the Market.

This is the kind of proactive measures needed to cushion the effects of ravaging market’s fire deserted in the country, observers said.