Some shops in Yola Town, a community that, along with Jimeta, serves as Adamawa State’s capital city, have been destroyed by fire.
According to reports late Thursday evening, the fire started much earlier in the morning, around 9 a.m., when some of the shop owners had already arrived at the market.
According to sources, the fire, which was caused by an electrical fault, primarily affected tailoring shops and shops selling ready-made clothes.
Ahmed Bashir, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), who led a government delegation to victims of the incident, said the government would help them re-establish their businesses.
“We thank God that it happened during the day time when the market is open and the marketers are already around, otherwise this would have been a most serious disaster given the nature of the environment,” the SSG said.
He hoped that those who lost their goods and properties would accept that the losses were unavoidable, and he reiterated that the government would look into what could be done to help them recover.
He praised a long-standing market community rule requiring all shop owners to turn off their lights from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., and urged them to continue to do so to protect their businesses.
“It happened in shops selling materials that are easily combustible and thanks to the cooperation to put off the fire before the arrival of the fire service personnel,” he added.
The inferno occurred in the morning, according to Alhaji Ali Kachalla, chairman of the Gamzaki Traders Association, who led government officials around affected shops.
