Fire destroys central market

The Birnin Kebbi Central Market has been gutted by fire in the early hours of Saturday, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports.

A NAN correspondent, who visited the scene of the incident on Saturday, reports that property worth millions of naira was destroyed but no life was lost.

Alhaji Abubakar Bandam, the chairman of the central market management, who told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi that the fire was noticed at about 12:00 mid night, explained that the source of the inferno was yet to be determined.

He said the management of the market was working closely with security agencies to identify the cause, just as he commended the state Department of Fire Service for its prompt response.

Alhaji Bello Zagga, the state Director of Fire Service, told NAN that the fire lasted for several hours because the firefighting vans did not have easy access to the spot of the inferno.

NAN reports that officials from the state government, led by the Chief of Staff of the government house, Alhaji Suleiman Argungu, and the Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Mohammad Bashar, visited the scene to sympathies with traders who lost their goods.