Goods worth millions of Naira were destroyed by fire at Bebeji Plaza in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, where mobile phones and accessories are sold.
Over 24 shops were said to have been completely burnt by the fire.
The incident, according to eyewitness accounts occurred at about 8:45 PM, Monday, and took the prompt intervention of the State Fire Service and security agencies to put out the fire.
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The Chairman of the National Association of GSM and Accessories Sellers, Zamfara State Chapter, Ibrahim Tanko, said they could not ascertain the cause of the fire, because for the past 40 days, there has not been electricity supply to the plaza.
He said, they can not also quantify the number of goods and the monetary value of the properties lost to the inferno, but that goods worth millions of Naira have been destroyed.
Ibrahim appealed to public-spirited individuals and the government to come to the aid of victims whom he said, are mainly youths.
The Executive Director of Zamfara State Fire Service, Abdullahi Jibo, disclosed that emergency responders, the fire service and security agencies responded swiftly, which resulted in extinguishing the fire within a short time, and prevented it from spreading to other buildings in the area.
He said the cause of the fire is still being investigated
However, while efforts were being made to put out the fire, some hoodlums wanted to take advantage of the situation to loot public property but were prevented by the security agencies.
(Editor: Ena Agbanoma)
