Fire razes popular Etiosa Market, office complex in Benin

By Ihesiulo Grace

22 December 2019

News

A mid -day fire yesterday razed down the popular Ekiosa Market with goods and properties worth several millions of naira destroyed in the inferno in Benin city

Also torched by the mysterious fire is the five storey office complex of the Edo Property Development Agency (EPDA) located on Sakponba Road.

Angered what they described as the state government’s sluggish response to the disaster, angry youths pelted soldiers and policemen deployed to the scene to prevent hoodlums from looting shops in the wake of the confusion that followed.

The market located between 2nd and 3rd East Circular Roads in the capital city was said to have been engulfed by fire following a power surge moments after electricity was restored to the area in the early hours of the day.

Sadly, the raging fire consumed goods and properties, leaving ashes in its wake as shop after shop loaded with clothes, foodstuff and household items went up in flames as majority of the traders were home on Sunday.

Besides, the situation was made worse as fire fighters from the state fire service arrived the scene late, only to complain about lack of water and a faulty generator to pump water to fight the fire.

Sources informed our correspondent that the fire outbreak was noticed at about 11:20am when most residents were in church, resulting in pandemonium in some of the worship centres as reports of the sad development filtered in, forcing worshippers who have shops in the market ending their worship in an attempt to salvage their goods.

Our correspondent reports that it took the spirited efforts of residents to salvage some of the goods from makeshift and other shops in the market.

Thousand of sympathisers thronged the market to help rescue trapped goods and to console relatives whose goods could not be saved from the raging fire.

The incident resulted in several hours of traffic gridlock as sympathisers besieged the market to witness the disaster.

A resident, who gave her name simply as Mrs. Grace, said she witnessed as the market went up in flames, but could not state what actually caused the fire outbreak.

“I was in my shop and I witnessed the fire as it began in the market. My husband and I were inside the shop when he said he wanted to go home. As he was about to go, I looked outside and saw tongues of fire in the centre of the market. Unfortunately there was nobody to help quench the fire when it started,” she narrated.

Meanwhile, soldiers and armed anti -riot mobile policemen fired shots in the air to disperse angry youths who protested against the inability of fire fighters from the state fire service to put out the fire several hours after it started.

The youths in the large numbers had expressed disappointment and sadness over the huge devastation and rubble left by the fire and were angry at the helplessness of fire fighters to bring the fire under control.

Some of the protesting youth were later arrested by the security agents and as at the time of filing this report, the market is still on fire.