Some hoodlums operating in Minna, the Niger State capital, attempted to prevent fire service personnel from putting out an inferno which razed a section of the Tunga market.

Arewa PUNCH reports that the incident occurred days after the state governor Mohammed Bago paid an unscheduled visit to the market to inspect the ongoing road construction.

He had given a 30-day ultimatum to the traders plying their trade around the precinct of the road under construction and even promised to compensate traders whose property would be affected during the visit.

Some of the affected traders lost property worth millions of naira, including foam mattresses and some household equipment aside from their workshops that were lost to the inferno.

Our correspondent gathered that the fire started at about 2.30 pm, almost opposite the Newsline Newspaper headquarters, the state-owned media outfit. The inferno, which was aided by the dry wind of the harmattan season, was also adjacent to the Sterling Bank, and Ostrich Bakery, among others.

Arewa PUNCH further learnt that efforts by some good Samaritans to put out the fire proved abortive as the harmattan gale aided the fire to spread fiercely and rapidly from one shop to the other.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the raging confusion and melee, street urchins, popularly known as area boys, hoodlums, and miscreants, were seen milling around the blazing shop fire during which items were looted amidst the confusion.

When personnel of the state fire service managed to meander through the pockets of obstruction and obstacle mounted by the street urchins via alternative routes and arrived at the scene of the inferno the area boys and hoodlums ensured that they were not allowed to fix their pipes and water hose into the water tanks to put out the fire.

The hoodlums began to pelt the officials with stones and other dangerous objects.

It was learnt further that the hoodlums pelted stones at the fire service personnel when they discovered that the officials were going to prevent them from looting items from the scene of the fire outbreak. It took the dexterity of the fire service truck drivers to manoeuvre into the nearby premises of the commercial banks to save the trucks from being badly damaged.

It also took the timely intervention of some mobile policemen posted to the bank who dispersed the area boys, thereby stopping them from looting the burnt shops and the adjoining buildings

The Niger State Police Command Public Relations Officer Superintendent of Police Wasiu Abiodun condemned the action of the area boys during the incident and disclosed that the security agencies would not allow such criminal behaviour.

One of the shop owners who gave his name as Emeka Nwachukwu spoke to Arewa PUNCH and lamented that he had lost all his life?s earnings as well as all his work tools. He called on kind-hearted individuals to come to his rescue.

?I don?t know what to say. All my properties are gone. I don?t know where to start. I am calling on Nigerians to help me. Even some foodstuffs I bought for this Christmas were burnt in the fire,? Nwachukwu lamented.

Meanwhile, the state governor Mohammed Bago has commiserated with the traders who lost their shops and other valuables during the inferno and assured them that the government would provide them succour.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, Arewa PUNCH learnt the more that the governor described the incident as a tragic and challenging moment for the victims, expressing his solidarity with them during their time of loss.

Governor Bago urged the victims to find comfort in God, assuring them that He would bless them in ways beyond the losses they have suffered in the fire.

?My government hereby is in solidarity with the traders who lost their wares in this fire outbreak. Let them find comfort in God. My government will ensure that the victims will be helped,? he said.

The statement also noted the rising number of fire incidents in the state, particularly in Minna, and called on relevant agencies to enhance awareness campaigns aimed at preventing or minimising such disasters.

?This is the harmattan season, and there are likely to be incidents of fire disasters, particularly in Minna. The relevant agencies should intensify the awareness and campaign to prevent these occurrences to minimise the disasters,? he said.

The governor assured the victims that the government, through its relevant agencies, would provide support to help mitigate the effects of the tragedy. (The PUNCH)

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