Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Fire razed several shops on Friday night in Kaduna, sending shops owners who are mostly foodstuff traders weeping profusely over the loss.
The fire which started at about 1am, at Narayi Bus stop area of Kaduna city, according to eyewitness, began from a shop where building materials were stored.
Eyewitness added that there was an electric spark, but light in the area went off immediately, adding that the possibility of an electric fault causing the fire could not be ruled out.
The fire was said to have spread to adjourning shops and razed them down completely, with some shops believed to be storing inflammable substances.
The inflammable substances were said to have further inflamed the fire to the extent that by the time fire fighters arrived, it was too late to save the situation.
When our correspondent visited the scene, affected traders were seen in group with wailing and weeping.
One of the traders, Mrs Gift Christian said: “The only thing I removed was ten measures (mudus) of garri; all other things were consumed by the fire. It was not long I took IOU and restocked my shop. Now everything is gone.”
Another trader, simply identified as Tobechi told our correspondent: “I lost everything, I mean everything in my shop running into millions of naira’ everything was lost to the fire. What can I do than to thank God because once there is life, there is hope.”
Sympathizers were seen consoling the victims to take heart and accept the reality as an act of God.
Burnt items like plastic containers of palm oil, bags of rice, bags crayfish were seen littering the area.
A similar incident happened in the area about a month when grocery sellers lost their goods to an evening fire.