Property worth billions of naira have been lost by traders in 13 fire incidents which occurred in six states of the federation.
The infernos occurred in the states, except Zamfara, between September 2024 and January 2025.
An investigation by LEADERSHIP Sunday showed that Kwara State topped the chart with five cases, followed by Plateau, Enugu and Nasarawa States, with two incidents each.
Zamfara and Sokoto States recorded one outbreak each.
According to findings, between October 2024 and January 2025, a total of 21 shops were destroyed by fire across markets in Kwara State.
There were occurrences of four fire outbreaks on October 17, November 9 and 24, December 2, 2024 in some markets across the state.
The scenes of the fire incidents include Onimamayin Street, Taiwo Oke area, Ilorin, Adeta Roundabout, Ilorin, lIaro compound, Salami Olokoba House, Omu-Aran, in Irepodun local government area and Alabi-Owo junction, Ita-Amodu area, Ilorin.
On Thursday, October 17, 2024, nine shops were destroyed by a fire outbreak at Onimamayin Street, Agbo Oba, Taiwo Oke area, Ilorin while on November 9, 2024, a fire outbreak at Adeta Roundabout, Ilorin destroyed three shops.
On November 24, 2024, a fire outbreak at Ilaro Compound, Salami Olokoba House, Omu-Aran, in Irepodun local government area destroyed two shops
On December 2, 2024, a fire broke out at Bilewu compound, Alabi-Owo junction, Ita-Amodu area, Ilorin and destroyed seven shops.
The fifth case occurred on Friday, January 10, 2025, at about 9:36pm at Olusola Saraki Market, Ita-Amo, Ilorin, the state capital.
In Zamfara State, a fire incident occurred at Gusau Central Market on January 8, 2024, killed one person and destroyed goods worth hundreds of millions of naira.
The inferno, which broke out at about 8pm, lasted for 1 hour 20 minutes before it was put out by firefighters from the state Fire Fighting Service headquarters in Gusau.
The executive director of the state fire service, Abdullahi Jibo Dauran, said property worth billions of naira were saved from the inferno.
“Billions of naira properties were saved under the control of fire fighting vehicles of the state, one person lost his life as a result of the incident,” he said.
In November 2024, a mid-night fire gutted Katako Timber Market in Jos North local government area of Plateau State.
The fire destroyed goods worth millions of naira, including about 107 shops. Over 200 people were affected, the majority of whom were carpenters.
The chairman of the Plateau State Carpenters Association, Shuabi Ali, said that fire incidents had been recurring in the market.
Similarly, on December 12, 2024, another fire outbreak was recorded at the Old Airport Junction in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The fire destroyed several Vitafoam shops, offices and 12 other shops, leaving the traders and business owners counting their losses.
The director of the State Fire Service, Caleb Polit, advised the people of the state that as the harmattan surges, they should be mindful of the way they handle inflammable substances.
In Sokoto State, an inferno broke out at Kara Market in the metropolis in December 2024.
Though no life was lost in the incident, about 50 shops were destroyed with 132 grinding machines, as well as significant quantities of food items, including rice, millet, and beans, worth millions of naira.
The chairman of the Grinders Association, Malam Yakubu Bello, said the destruction was substantial, especially with the loss of grinding machines and appealed to the state government for support.
Mallam Bello commended the state government’s swift action when the deputy governor, Alhaji Mohammed Gobir, visited the scene to sympathise with the victims.
In Enugu State, two fire outbreaks were recorded between September 2024 and January 2025. One of the cases took place at a filling station in Enugu in September 2024 while the other occurred at Timber Market in December of the same year.
Officers and men of the Enugu State and the Federal Fire Services put out the fire incidents.
An official of the Federal Fire Service blamed some victims of the inferno, which he attributed to negligence.
He advised the residents to heed to early warning signals and keep fire extinguishers close to their houses, markets and offices.
Two fire incidents were recorded in two major markets in Nasarawa State within the period under review.
Both incidents happened in December 2024 in Lafia, the state capital and Masaka in Karu local government area.
LEADERSHIP Sunday reports that while the Lafia Modern Market incident happened on December 6, that of Masaka Market took place on December 28.
In the Lafia incident, 29 shops were affected.
According to the data provided by the Nasarawa State Traders and Marketers Association (NSTMA) through its president, Alhaji Musa Aliyu-Turaki, of the 29 shops affected, 24 were razed with all the goods in them.
He attributed the cause of the accident to a dumpsite near the market, explaining that the dumpsite must have escalated by the harmattan into the nearby market.
On other hand, the Masaka incident was said to have started from a private commercial toilet facility in the market.
Witnesses attributed the fire to a faulty connection sparked by restoration of power by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) at about midnight.
Already, Governor Abdullahi Sule has intervened in the Lafia incident by releasing the sum of N60 million as relief to the traders whose shops were burnt.
The breakdown of the donation showed that while N55 million was meant for those directly affected by the fire, N5 million was for the Nasarawa State Traders and Marketers Association (NSTMA).
He said the intervention for the Masaka Market traders would come after the level of damage had been ascertained by the committee investigating the situation.
Meanwhile, about N6.5 billion worth of property was lost to fire disaster, according to the data from the Federal Fire Service in the state.
The state controller, Eno Nwachukwu-Kelechi, said the statistics cover up to September 2024.
“The estimated worth of property lost is about N6.5 billion, while the estimated worth of property saved is about N15 billion,” she said.
