By Olamide Francis
The reoccurring fire incidents in markets across the country have raised concerns for the Market Traders Association of Nigeria (MATAN).
President of the association, Alhaji Jamilu Abbas, in an interview in Abuja on Tuesday, described the situation as worrisome.
Abbas was reacting to the inferno that occurred at the Kubo Furniture Market in Abuja on Sunday, which left shops razed and furniture worth millions of naira destroyed at the furniture market.
The MATAN president urged traders to take necessary precautions to prevent the reoccurring of such incidents, especially at this period that items were easily inflammable owing to the harmattan season.
He appealed to federal, state, and local governments to provide fire stations in markets that would promptly respond to any possible sudden fire outbreak.
He called for proactive measures against the fire disasters ravaging markets and destroying the properties of traders.
“Fires like these can be regarded as a natural disaster. But it could be man-made too. That is why we need to take the necessary measures to prevent the ones within our reach.
“Traders should be sensitized on the need to be fire conscious, including observance of no smoking. Cooking by restaurants and bukkas should be closely monitored,” he stated.
Abbas recalled that in less than two weeks, no fewer than 252 make-shift shops were razed by fire at the Galadima Market in Gwarimpa, Abuja.
He added that about 40 shops were also destroyed in an inferno in Potiskum Market, Yobe State where millions of naira were lost in the last two weeks.
The president also commiserated with all the affected persons who lost properties to the inferno and prayed to God to provide the means for them to get back to business.
He, however, appealed to the government at all levels to compensate the affected traders who had incurred losses due to the fire disaster.
