On February 26, tragedy hit Maiduguri as a fire ravaged major portions of the well-known Monday Market, the biggest market in Borno State.
Although the source of the fire was not immediately determined, witnesses reported that it began between 2:30 and 3 in the morning.
Residents have already put out political explanations for the fire, which the Borno state Fire Department has been battling to put out since 3am.
Hundreds of vendors were scurrying away from their stores with whatever goods they could rescue in case the fire spread, around different areas of the market.
Abubakar Isa, a trader in used clothing, said, “I lost everything in my five businesses.” He continued, “I cannot quickly quantify the worth of my losses, but I can tell you that it is over N30 million.”
Musa Sulaiman owned two stores selling rugs and other goods for home décor.
He informed our correspondent in a guttural tone, “The two shops were entirely razed down, and I lost everything.” He put the value of his losses at “nothing less than N50 million.”
Alhaji Modu Kijimi lost both of his empty-sack businesses. He was too wounded emotionally to calculate the value of his losses.
Alhaji Sani Idris Hausari, a prominent livestock trader with five stores full of live guineafowl, pigeons, and chickens, claimed to have lost all of his birds. He was unable to calculate the value of his losses.
He said, “Livestock vendors have lost roughly 20 businesses with hundreds of birds.
Tens of security personnel, mostly soldiers and police, had been stationed there around the market to protect it from the dangerous looter infestation.
To scare away the crowds of people pouring into the still-burning market with the intention of robbing houses, tear gas was occasionally sprayed.
A local kid who spoke with our reporter stated that “shortly after the fire started, thieves started to stream into the market, stealing shops.
“I can tell you that properties worth hundreds of millions of naira have already been looted.”
In addition to promising to see President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) right away for additional relief, Governor Babagana Umara Zulum announced a N1 billion relief for the victims as he walked around the burning market on Sunday morning. He also urged humanitarian organizations to assist the victims.
The Monday Market in Maiduguri was destroyed by fire three times in the past 20 years.
