Several shops have been gutted by fire at the Mgbuka Obosi Old Motor Spare Parts Market in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
It was gathered that the inferno occurred on Saturday night, mostly affecting three shops, including a provision store.
The cause of the incident was attributed to a power surge as a result of a poor electrical connection in one of the burnt structures.
The chairman of the market, Samuel Ifurunwa, who spoke when our correspondent visited the scene on Sunday, said he was alerted to the incident at about 3 am on Saturday, while the market security operatives had quickly swung into rescue operations.
Ifurunwa said, “I was called around 3 am (Saturday) that Mgbuka Obosi Market was on fire. They said one person did some electrical connection in his shop on Friday evening.
“When the electricity was restored around 3 am, the connection sparked fire, which prompted the security operatives to rush to the scene and found out that it was from one of the makeshift structures which was electrified on Friday.
“According to them, the power surge assisted the weak wires in sparking fire, and the wires fell on top of the zinc and escalated to two other shops, despite efforts of the security operatives to put off the raging inferno.
The security operatives said there was fuel inside the shop. That was what helped the fire to escalate, and because it had gone out of control, the security operatives called fire servicemen of Asaba and the main market but to no avail, they had to call Okpoko fire service personnel, and they came to our rescue and quenched the fire, but not without touching three makeshift structures.
“The man that did the illegal connection has been arrested because we have only one person handling the electricity project in our market.
“We have announced and warned everybody not to bring in any electrician inside our market except the one recognised by the market authority because if found, we will hand the person over to the police.
“One of the affected victims, a woman, said she had warned the man not to make the connection.”
Also speaking, the owner of the shop which made the connection, Sunday Ezekwe, said, “I was called around 3 am that Mgbuka Obosi market is on fire, I don’t know if it was the connection I did that caused it or not, because I was not there.
I was using electricity before someone disconnected me. When I approached him to know his reason, he said he did not do it intentionally and that I should procure N3,000 cable and reconnect it.
“I called the man in charge of electricity in our market, and he directed me to the man who did the connection. I did not store fuel in my shop; rather, there was fuel in my generator. Due to the nature of my business, I am using a generator also.”
In his reaction, President General of the Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association, Humphrey Anuna, said he rushed to the scene to see the extent of destruction, lamenting that most of the fire incidents were caused by illegal connections.
Anuna also advised that structures should not be put under high-tension cables, citing the Nnobi market fire incident as a case study.
He, however, expressed concern as to the loss and urged the victims to take heart.
Confirming the incident in a statement, the Media and Publicity Unit of the Anambra State Fire Service said firefighters, led by the Fire Chief, Chukwudi Chiketa, were deployed immediately to the scene of the incident and they battled to contain the fire.
Chiketa said the firefighters extinguished the inferno after several hours and returned to the station at 05:30 hours of the same day.
The Anambra State Fire Service on Saturday received a distress call at 2:00 am of a fire outbreak at Mainline of Mgbuka Obosi market, in Idemili North LGA of Anambra State.
“The gallant firefighters and equipment were deployed immediately to the scene. They fought and contained the fire.
The fire affected two stores and a provision shop while many other stores and shops in the market were saved. No life was lost. The cause of the fire was attributed to a power surge.
“The general public is advised to always be safety conscious in whatever you are doing, as fire is destructive when it is out of control,” he stated.
(PUNCH)