President Bola Tinubu has expressed his administration’s support for the victims of the fire that erupted at the Old Karu market in Abuja’s Federal Capital Territory on Thursday.
Authorities from Federal Fire Service, Federal Capital Territory Fire Service, and Julius Berger Fire Service extinguished the fire, which had destroyed items valued at millions of naira.
“President Bola Tinubu receives the news of the fire incident, which affected sections of Karu Market in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with deep sadness,” the President’s Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale said in a State House statement on Friday.
According to the statement, Tinubu “reaches out to all the traders impacted by this upsetting event and assures them of his administration’s full support.” The President urges caution and adherence to essential safety measures to prevent fire outbreaks and other accidents.”
The FCT Emergency Management Department, through its acting Director-General, Mrs. Florence Wenegieme, lamented the lack of access to the market, which is located behind the new market under construction.
In a statement on Friday signed by the Head of Public Affairs, Nkechi Isa, the FEMD boss said, “It was the illegal market or settlement behind the new market under construction that was engulfed by fire. “No life was lost to the fire incident; goods worth millions of naira were destroyed,” the statement continued. “We had enough firetrucks and firemen, but we could not gain access to the market, so we had to break walls to have access to the firefighting hose.”
In an interview with Channels Television in the market on Friday, a female trader stated her worry over the loss to the inferno, which, according to her, ran into millions of naira.
The trader, who was flanked by other women in the video, cried out, saying, “Everything has burnt down. I could not recover anything. This is where we feed from o. Ah, my children’s school fees are there.
“I cannot hold myself, I am in pain, I don’t know if the government can help us. My money that has gone here is over N10 million. I do not know where to begin because I am exhausted.
