By Musa Yaro, Calabar
ASHENEWS reports that a few months after the popular Ika Ika Oqua (Marian) market in Calabar got burnt, the same market was again razed by fire in the early hours of Saturday.
This online platform further reports that the cause of the inferno was not ascertained at the time of filing this report.
The fire destroyed various shops including a medicine, and makeup shops, and a cold room, leaving the owners wailing at the scene, which is situated in Calabar Municipality council of Cross River State.
“Millions of naira has gone again at this period that much money is chasing few goods,” a sympathizer identified as John Uwem told ASHENEWS, recalling that, “the last fire incident here is not up to a year.”
Also, Esther Bassey Udo who spoke with our reporter said, “the fire started around 3:40 am,” adding that she got a call intimating her of the fire outbreak at that time.
When ASHENEWS asked her if there was any intervention from the state or federal fire service to contain the inferno, Udo said, “I did not see any of them since I came in here and no sign that any of them visited before I came.”
Further inquiries by ASHENEWS from eyewitnesses and victims of the inferno who were seen putting off the fire revealed that the state fire service, which has an office at the same Marian road in Calabar, was contacted at the start of the fire, but no official picked the calls.
ASHENEWS could not ascertain if the fire service’s failure to honour the calls was as a result of obsolete equipment or lack of fire fighting items which it has continuously complained of.
Our reporter put repeated calls to one of the officials which couldn’t go through up till the time of filing this report.
