Five buildings and four shops were razed in a fire incident that started in the early hours of Tuesday in Calabar.
The fire, which started at about 2 a.m. from a building in Eyo Edem street, on the popular Watt Market in Calabar, destroyed property worth millions of naira.
Although there were no casualties, the occupants of the burnt buildings said they lost everything and called on the state government to assist them to start all over again.
One of the victims, Mrs Mercy Akpan said her shop was among those destroyed in the fire, saying that she lost everything.
“I am pleading with the State Government to assist us to start all over again,” she said.
Reacting to the incident, the Public Relations Officer (PRO), State Fire Service, Mr Cletus Makpere, said they were still investigating the cause of the fire.
Makpere said men of the fire service were there in good time and were able to put the fire under control.
“Our men are carrying out a post fire inspection to ascertain the cause of the fire outbreak.
“We have not done an assessment of the cost of the property burnt, we expect our men to come back with a report from the scene of the incident, then, we will know the extent and cost of the damage,” he said (NAN)