Nasarawa Timber Market Razed By Fire, Destroys Shops

No fewer than 20 shops were on Saturday burnt down in Timber Shade Market, a major timber market in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, while property worth millions of naira were destroyed.

Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that the fire started at about 1am, adding that efforts by residents to put out the fire failed.

One of them, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said,
“There was no equipment to fight the fire. Even the state firefighters, who came to the scene, arrived with an empty tanker.

“Later, another water tanker was brought with which the firefighter put out the fire. Otherwise, the entire place could have been razed to the ground.
As it is, the level of destruction is devastating.”

The state Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Dogara Dalhatu, said the cause of the fire had yet to be established,

“However, lack of space aided the fire, which consumed many shops before it was put out. The members of the
public are urged to always have fire extinguishers and other firefighting equipment in their shops and offices so that if fire incident occurs, they will be able to arrest the situation even without the presence of firefighters.

“We were informed at about 3am and we responded immediately. There is no truth that an empty tanker was
brought to the scene. In cases like this, people look for scapegoats rather than blame themselves. Let us always be
sincere in our criticism.

“Recently, the government asked the traders to relocate to the new site because of the congestion in the timber market, but they refused and now look at what happened” he added.

The Chairman, United Timber Dealer Association, Lafia branch, Alhaji Adamu Ibrahim, said property lost to the inferno could not be less than N20m.

“We have yet to know the cause of the fire. We woke up and saw fire burning down some of our shops,” he added.

The member representing Toto/Gadabuke Constituency at the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Mr. Seidu Galadima, said,

“As a legislator, I will present the situation you are facing before other lawmakers in the state and promised to do everything humanly possible to ensure that the government compensate you.”

A trader at the market, Chief Andrew Opakra, said he was called around 1.30am that the market was on fire. He said, “By the time I got to the market, my shop had been razed by the fire.

The state government should come to my aid as all my life investments were destroyed by the fire. I am back to square one.”

Another victim, Mr. Udoka David, also
appealed to Governor Umaru Al-Makura to come to the aid of the traders, saying they had lost everything to the fire.