The Niger State Fire Service (NSFS) has prevented an inferno which threatened to destroy shops and goods at the Abdulkadir Kure Ultramodern Market, Minna (Minna Main Market).
Isiaku Kwatu, Secretary of the market who confirmed this on Wednesday in Minna said that the incident occurred on Monday.
“There was a fire outbreak. The fire started when a trader tried to destroy expired goods removed from his shop.
“When the fire became uncontrollable we quickly called in the fire service to prevent it from escalating.
“We thank God that no live was lost, no shop and goods were touched,” he said.
Kwatu advised traders to always consult the market association for such destruction as there are designated points meant for that in the market.
Similarly, Mr Audu Yohanna, Acting Deputy Controller, Fire Prevention, state fire service said that the service prevented the fire from engulfing other parts of the market by curtailing it within the point it started.
“We thank God that we arrived on time and put off the fire, otherwise it would have spread to other parts of the market,” he said.
Yohanna urged traders in the market to always destroy such goods at prescribed places.
He also advised them to always put off their electrical appliances before leaving the market.
He enjoined traders using generating sets in the market to keep their generating sets and petrol in well ventilated places not close to naked flames.
Yohanna equally appealed to the state government and Chanchaga Local Government Council in charge of the market to restore its original architectural design to ease the job of the fire service.
“We are handicapped here in Kure market because the master plan of the market had been tampered with by traders who erected shops indiscriminately.
“This makes it difficult to easily move fire fighting equipments within the place in the case of fire outbreak.
“We are calling on the state and local government to bring back the master plan of the market to help prevent any fire outbreak,” he said.
