From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Victims of Nkwo Ogbe market fire disaster in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State are still counting their losses waiting for God to wipe away their tears.
October 17 this year was a day of lamentation and weeping for the traders in control of about 9,600 shops consumed by fire on that fateful Sunday. A clear-cut cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.
However, all the victims interviewed by Daily Sun said they lost millions of naira, some in hundreds having replenished their stock in anticipation of the Christmas business season before the fire incident occurred.
Chairman of the market union, Chief Cyprian Oledibe who lost goods worth about N12 million said the total estimate of goods and cash lost to the fire ran into billions given the number of shops affected which were heavily stocked preparatory to the yuletide: “Nothing was removed from any of the shops. Those who came when the fire started to recover their goods still lost them to thieves who were busy carting away items saved from the fire by the shop owners.
“Some of them were caught with bags of rice, cloths, sewing machines, groceries, electronics, among other items which their owners attempted to save at the heat of the inferno.”
He told our correspondent that a former House of Representatives member from the area, Chuma Nzeribe, had during his time in office built a fire station there. But he regretted that the facility was not commissioned to become functional till date. He said he did not even know the whereabouts of the firefighting truck as he spoke to us.
He explained that the current fire outbreak was the third time the traders had the experience, “though the October 17 incident is the greatest.”
The market leader said when he was informed of the fire incident, he made calls which led to the arrival of men of the fire service in Nnewi. He, however, said that the fire was already beyond their control when they arrived.
Oledibe whose executive had begun to compile names of the affected traders made a strong appeal to Anambra State Government, corporate organisations, philanthropists and even churches to come to the rescue of the traders.
He also suggested to government to use the opportunity to rebuild the market with modern lockup stalls, decked to forestall easy fire outbreak.
Okechukwu Okonkwo, a dealer in bakery materials said he lost over N18.6 million to the fire incident. He said he had just taken delivery of trailer load of his goods two days before the fire disaster occurred.
Another victim, Mrs Helen Onyeakusi from Ndi Ezike, Ihiala whose two shops were stocked with goods worth over N1million in readiness for the yuletide season lost the entire stock to the fire. She said she borrowed money from various sources in the hope to pay back after sales. She cried for help.
It was all tales of woes, lamentation and cry for help in the market as some of the victims said they borrowed from banks and village meetings to replenish their stocks.
Daily Sun gathered that Governor Willie Obiano had visited the scene with the promise to investigate the incident and assist the victims.
He quickly set up a special committee to look into the immediate and remote causes of the unfortunate fire incident.