By Ola ‘Kiya, Reporting
Some traders at Ogbe-Ijoh Market in Warri South Local Government Area were, on Sunday afternoon, made poorer, as their stalls and shops, stocked with varieties of goods, were destroyed by fire while they were still in the church.
This is coming barely one month after a similar inferno rocked Miller Water side market in Warri on December 19, 2021, destroying existential fortunes of people just few days to Christmas.
Ogbe-Ijoh Market, built by the Chief James Ibori government yet to be inaugurated due to inter-communal rancour, has been host to devastating fire disasters on several occasions over the years.
Fire razes Ogbe-Ijoh Market
While the causes are hardly known or investigated, Stonix News can report that most of the fire outbreaks usually occur at weekends, especially Sundays, when the traders are at home or in their worship centres.
The annual ritual, which some quarters usually attribute to storage of illegally-refined petroleum products, came up again on Sunday, as it usually happens, with huge bellows of fire engulfing the entire market stalls and shops harbouring goods worth great fortunes.
Uncontrollable wailings from victims, mostly hardworking women, who rushed to the scene after being alerted by neighbours, rented the air.
Some security agents, including soldiers from the Nigerian Army, were seen maintaining some sanity, scores of street urchins were still seen pilfering from what remains of the losses.
Goods ranging from frozen foods, bags of garri, rice, beans, boutiques, textiles, second-hand clothings, etc worth millions of naira were burnt irretrievably in the shanti-like stalls and shops.
Although no life was lost to the inferno, overwhelmed victims who had suffered great losses, could not speak to Stonix News when yours sincerely visited the scene at about 3:30p.m.
Rather, spontaneous wailing from pains and anguish of inflicted losses, rented the air as a crowd of both young and old milled around the wasteland!
Fire fighters, who arrived the scene fairly timely, expended three trucks of water to put out the fire that had ravaged hard-earned fortunes of the victims.
One of the victims, who was accosted but declined comments, had engaged some wheelbarrow-pushing youths from the north to salvage what’s left in her fire-ravaged cold room of frozen chickens.
Meanwhile, the Divisional Secretary, Red Cross Nigeria, Warri South Division, Cyril Kokarhaye, who was on ground with his team at the scene of the inferno, said there was no human casualty, so far.
According to him, the cause of fire was yet to be ascertained as well as the number of shops and stalls affected, and quantum of fortunes lost to the inferno.
Amid the hardship orchestrated by heinous economic policies of the President Buhari-led regime with their attendant hyperinflation, some struggling residents in Warri have been dipped into more penury no thanks to their kind.
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