Traders Lament As Fire Guts Shops In Calabar

Fire on Friday night gutted several shops at Ika Ika along Mbukpa Street in Calabar South local government area of Cross River State, destroying goods worth millions of naira.

It was believed to have started from a building and spread before it could be contained.

Shop owners, Ada Oke and Elizabeth Prince, who spoke to our correspondent, said they had locked up their shops around 11:30 p.m. only to hear of the incident, leaving them in pains.

“The fire destroyed two deep freezers, bags of rice, beans, grains, dairy products, books and other provisions stocked in December at an estimated cost of about N3.5 million,” they said.

“Everything in the shop is gone. Even the container where I kept money was burnt with the money inside. I had not removed even a pin from the goods,” another trader lamented.

The total loss, including the shop structure and equipment, is estimated at over N4 million, she said.

The affected traders appealed to the state government, agencies and well-meaning Nigerians to come to their aid.