Nasarawa govt blames poor refuse disposal as fire razes 30 shops

A devastating fire engulfed the tailoring section of the New Modern Market in Lafia, Nasarawa State, on Thursday night, reducing 30 shops to ashes and destroying goods worth millions of naira.

The inferno, which started at approximately 9:30 pm, raged on until the early hours of Friday.

Firefighters from the Nasarawa State Fire Service faced significant challenges in controlling the blaze due to heaps of refuse in and around the market, delaying their response efforts.

Eyewitnesses described the scene as chaotic, with the intense heat repeatedly forcing firefighters to retreat.

Muse Abdullahi, a shop owner and one of the victims, lamented the loss of 40 new sewing machines and the destruction of his family’s three shops.

“The fire outbreak began at about 9:30 pm, and nobody could figure out the remote cause of the incident.

“The shops that were gutted by fire were built with wood. The nature of the wood that was used in building the shops was why the inferno escalated to other shops in the market.

“About 70 per cent of the shops that gutted fire are the ones with the 40 new sewing machines that were brought on Thursday morning, including the three shops of my father.

“And the remaining shops that were involved in the fire incident are shoes and clothes shops, respectively.” Abdullahi stated.

Abdullahi, however, stated that the coming of the firefighters was of no use to the people of the market, lamenting that if the firefighters had come to the scene of the incident on time, the inferno would have been brought under control.

Director of the Nasarawa State Fire Service, Builder Ombogus-Joshua, confirmed the incident, stating that his team received a distress call around the same time the fire began.

He pointed out that indiscriminate refuse dumping in the market significantly impeded the firefighting operation.

“The inferno began at about 9:30 pm on Thursday and continued till the following morning of Friday, leaving properties worth millions of naira destroyed at the Lafia modern market,” Ombogus-Joshua said.

He urged market traders and residents to prioritize cleanliness and safety to prevent future disasters, while promising enhanced response readiness from the fire service.

Nasarawa govt blames poor refuse disposal as fire razes 30 shops