On Wednesday, fire gutted the Nupe line section of Igbudu Market in Warri, Delta State.
Properties worth millions of naira were reportedly destroyed, leaving traders in tears.
The cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained. It took the swift intervention of the officials of the Delta State Fire Service and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to put out the fire.
The Etsu-Nupe of Warri, Zuberu Mohammed Tajudeen, whose building is located near the location of the fire confirmed the incident.
“We don’t know how the fire started. We only perceived the smell of burning but we could not trace the exact thing that was burning. All we saw later was fire. The fire finished the building close to my building,” Tajudeen told Daily Post.
“When the fire was burning, I was afraid. It took the intervention of the fire service of the Delta State Government with that of SPDC to stop it. The Urhobos in Igbudu No. 2 and the Hausa boys in Hausa Quarters also helped us a great deal. They helped to quench the fire. I thank God because my building was spared. I don’t have any other thing. This is the only place where I get my daily bread from.”
Tajudeen appealed to the Delta State Government to establish a fire service substation in Igbudu market to protect traders in the event of future fire outbreaks.
He also urged the government to provide financial assistance to the affected traders to help mitigate their losses.