From Okey Sampson, Umuahia

A midnight fire yesterday razed over 12 shops in Aba, the commercial capital of Abia State, destroying property worth several millions of naira.

The fire affected shops located in-between the Aba Correctional Facility and Aba Area Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and were mainly occupied by tailors and food vendors.

It was suspected that the fire might have been caused by power surge when the public power was restored to the area.

It was gathered that attempts by the shop owners and early callers to the scene to put off the fire failed as they were overpowered by the inferno.

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Some of the items said to have been destroyed by the fire include refrigerators, sewing machines among others, including several amount of cash left in some of the shops by their owners.

The affected shop owners were reported to have pleaded with the state government and concerned citizens of the state to come to their aid.

An official of the Abia State Fire Service, Aba who do not want his name in print disclosed they were informed about the incident after a lot of havoc had been done

He said their arrival at the scene however, stopped the fire from spreading to other shops in the area.