Properties worth billions of naira have been destroyed in a fire incident at the Ariaria International Market, Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State.
The fire outbreak which occurred on Saturday at the power line zone where mechanical parts, raw materials, shoe-making equipment and allied appliances are sold, slowed down business activities at the area.
An eye witness said the fire started late Saturday night and raged until Sunday morning when it was put out by personnel of the state fire service.
Mr. Nnanna Arua, the state fire controller, who confirmed the incident, said that over 30 shops were destroyed while attributing the incident to erratic power supply.
”Whe I was alerted of the fire outbreak at about 11:00p.m last Saturday, I quickly liaise with the Aba Division of the service for necessary action.
” The firefighters on arrival, met residents already struggling to put out the raging fire, which hindered the operatives from gaining easy access to the fire points,” Arua said.
According to him, no life was lost in the fire outbreak.
Mr Amadi Ezekiel, the Central Chairman of the affected market zone, informed the lawmaker representing Aba North Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Hon. Destiny Nwagwu, during his visit to the scene that the fire might have been caused by an electrical spark.
According to him, this can be as a result of poor wiring system in one of the shops.
Nwagwu, while sympathizing with the victims, assured them that the state government would not turn its back on them.
He promised to set up a seven-man committee to interface with the market leaders on the possibility of assisting the victims.
