By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Food items worth millions of naira were in the wee hours of Sunday destroyed by fire in Real Footstuff Market located within the premises of Federal Polytechnic Oko in Anambra State.

It was gathered that the market, which is close to the back gate of the institution, caught fire around 1:30 a.m.

According to a resident of the area, Victor Oluchukwu, police barricaded the area in time to prevent people from looting the shops.

“When I got there this morning, security people were there blocking (movements) and making sure that people carrying things were actually the owners of those shops, so that some people will not go and steal things," he said.

Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, said: “The fire took place around 1:30am. Some provision shops were affected.

"Police operatives quickly went to the place to cordon off the area because we discovered that, at times, hoodlums take advantage of the situation to loot, but we prevented that.

“On the receipt of the information, police operatives quickly contacted the fire service and with the help of the people in the area the fire was successfully put off.”

While sayiing that no life was lost in the incident, he added that the cause of the inferno is yet to ascertained.

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