There was commotion last night at Ojoto market in the Mile 2 area of Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, when fire razed shops, destroying goods reportedly worth millions of Naira.
OsunDaily News learnt that over 200 shops were affected by the raging fire around 9:15 pm when most traders had already closed for the day.
While there is still confusion on the cause of the fire, it was gathered that there was no electrical power before the incident. Though an eyewitness told The PUNCH that the fire was caused by an electric spark when the public power supply was restored that night, the claim was refuted by the chairman of the market.
Other people living around the market also claimed that some people were cooking in the market, which may have ignited the fire.
“They said some people were cooking inside the market. So, as soon as that electric spark happened, the fire started in that shop. Before you know it, there was fire everywhere. All the shops burned down,” the residents jointly told the media platform.
Reports revealed traders were devastated as they could not recover any of their goods due to the inferno level. It was gathered that some residents made calls to family members and friends, informing them about the tragic development.
The fire service officials reportedly arrived at the scene at about 10:42 pm, over an hour after the incident, and were chased away by an angry mob.
Confirming the fire incident, the Chairman Ojoto Market chairman, Arinze Akupue, said nothing was removed from the market, saying he was at home a few minutes to 10 pm when a security man called him and that there was flame coming out of the market.
Akupue said after discovering it was a fire outbreak, he put calls across to some people around the market to see what they could do to put out the fire while he drove to the state fire service.
He stated that at the state fire service, he was advised to go to the Federal Secretariat to inform the Federal fire service, as the state fire service was handicapped.
Akupue disclosed that he drove to the Federal Secretariat, where he informed the Federal fire service, and their Commander approved immediately, and they followed him to the scene.
He debunked claims that people were storing petroleum products or cooking in the market and condemned the attack on the firefighters.
“Nothing was removed from the market. The fire has nothing to do with somebody cooking. The market had closed, and traders had gone home.
“A security operative told me that there was a fire in the market. I asked him which area he told me. Immediately, I started calling the state fire service.
“There was no response, so I had to drive down to their office. They told me they could not do anything. In fact, they directed me to the Federal Fire Service. I drove down to their office at the Federal Secretariat, and they gave me attention.
“I said, please, the market is going down. They called one of their bosses, who approved immediately, and they had to call one of their trucks stationed at the INEC office to join me at the market immediately,” Akupue said.
He further said while they were on their way, he called the Divisional Police Officer of Iloabuchi Disional Station, and they responded because the fire service needed security too to be on the ground.
“But as we got there, a lot of hoodlums were entering and looting. And they started throwing bottles and stones at the fire truck and their officers and tried to mob them,” Akupue stated.
The Ojoto market chairman said he pleaded with the hoodlums to allow them to do their job, saying they paid deaf ears and continued pelting stones to the extent that the firefighters, with the help of policemen, drove to the Illabuchi Police Station for cover.
“At this point, the market was already 85 per cent down. I lost three of my shops, and I didn’t pick up anything and others too. We have over 200 shops in that market. A lot of people have lost their livelihoods,” he said.
Akupue begged the state government to provide succour for the traders who, according to him, could not recover any of their goods from the fire.
On his part, when contacted, the Commander of Federal Fire Service in Rivers State, Abdullahi Alfa, confirmed the attack on his men and their truck, describing it as “unfortunate”.
Alfa stated, “One of our major mandates is to save lives and property and we try our best to respond to distress calls and we must do our job.
“In this case, I was part of the team that went there to put out the fire. We were attacked by these boys and one of our trucks was slightly damaged and we had to run for our lives.
“We were not the ones that caused the fire. Ours is to go and help. So if they continue to attack us like this, what do we do?”
