An inferno has razed tailoring shops at the New Modern Market in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, destroying goods worth millions of naira.
Weekend Trust correspondent who visited the scene of the incident learned that the fire started on Thursday night at about 9.30pm and lasted until the early hours of Friday.
Efforts by personnel of the Nasarawa State Fire Service to put out the fire were delayed, reportedly due to heaps of refuse in and around the marketplace.
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The intense heat from the raging flames repeatedly drove back firefighters, hampering their efforts to bring the situation under control.
Narrating his ordeal, Musa Abdullahi, whose shop was among those razed, said no one could determine the exact cause of the fire outbreak.
He disclosed that no fewer than 30 shops were destroyed in the inferno.
According to Abdullahi, 70 percent of the shops destroyed were tailoring shops containing new sewing machines.
“Forty new sewing machines were delivered on Thursday morning, and they were all destroyed in the fire, alongside three shops belonging to my father. Other affected shops include those selling shoes and clothes,” he said.
The Director of the Nasarawa State Fire Service, Builder Ombogus-Joshua, confirmed the incident, saying his team received a distress call around 9.30pm on Thursday. He confirmed that firefighters were immediately deployed to the scene.
While disputing the claim that 30 shops were affected, Ombogus-Joshua did not specify the exact number, noting that investigations into the incident are ongoing.
