An early morning inferno has destroyed a section of the Timber market located at Bayan-Kara area in the Kebbi State Capital, Birnin Kebbi, this Sunday, leading to the loss of about N192 million in property.
An eye witness, Mallam Yahaya, told journalists that the cause of the fire was attributed to an electric spark in one of the shops after power was restored by the Distribution Company.
He said that, at about 5 am this morning, flames from a shop was noticed which quickly spread to others, engulfing hundreds of timber and plywoods inside and outside the enclosure. He added that one of their members rode on a motorcycle to the headquarters of the Fire Service to report the incident, whose men responded immediately and extinguished the fire.
Kebbi State deputy Governor, Umar Abubakar Tafida, who inspected the scene of the fire outbreak, expressed sympathy with the victims.
“On behalf of Governor Nasir Idris, the government is donating N10 million in the interim, to enable you recoupe part of your losses”,
“The Government willl fully respond to assist those affected restart business after complete assessment of the tragedy.
The Chairman of the Timber Marketers Association, Bello Dan-Sambo, thanked the deputy Governor for the visit, expressing immense gratitude to Governor Nasir Idris for his kind gesture of donating an initial sum of ten million naira to his members who suffered loss.
A total of nine timber merchants are the identified victims of the fire outbreak with cumulative losses of N191.7 million in timber and other accessories.
Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie
