•Motorcycle traders count losses in billions of naira
From Olanrewaju Lawal, Sokoto
That Monday, while families were still enjoying Suhur at their homes, during the just-concluded Ramadan, the Central Market, Sokoto, Sokoto State, was up in flames with wares worth billions of naira destroyed. The tragic incident, traced to the huge dumpsite behind the market, wasted dreams, broke hearts and ruined fortunes of many traders.
Annas Abubakar Sadiq, a victim, has remained inconsolable. He lost six shops to the inferno. He recalled that he was deep asleep after his Suhur on the fateful day when a neighbour called his attention to the fire outbreak.
Accompanied by family members, he rushed to the market only to discover that his shops were in flames. He regretted that his efforts, including those of many sympathisers could not safe the day as they came a little too late to make any meaningful impact.
Pointing to the debris, he said: “My shops were here and there. This particular place, this is the place. I was selling motorcycles in large quantities at these posts. This fire started around 6am on Monday. They are all gone.
“The fire started from a huge dumpsite located right behind my shops. The dumpsite is huge. We have on several occasions petitioned the authorities to evacuate the site from the back of the market, but nothing happened thereafter.
“We really don’t know how this fire got to the place. Before we left our shops yesterday, my workers quenched the small fire that was growing at the dumpsite with water. We made sure it was quenched.
“I remember asking them to quench it when the smoke was disturbing us. I asked them to fetch water to quench it before we left yesterday. But as you can see, that fire resurfaced and grew to the point of burning our shops. That fire burnt everything razed our shops to debris.”
Mohammed Garba is Chairman, Motorcycles Sellers Association, Sokoto Central Market: “We have come to see things for ourselves and ascertain what really happened. I can tell you that about 180 to 200 shops were destroyed by this terrible fire.
“Most of the shops affected were those of dealers of motorcycles and motorcycle spare parts. We cannot confirm how much in term of money was lost, but we are sure that it is huge.
“Some of these traders lost two to three motorcycle shops.