Mysterious Midnight Fire Razes Over 200 Shops In Jos Market

Mysterious fire in the wee hours of Saturday razed over 200 shops erected on the rubble of the earlier burnt Jos main market; causing the affected traders financial setback which would take some time to recover from.

The cause of the fire, officials and the victims could not say but while some said the fire started at about 1.30am, the State Fire Service said it got a call at about 12.30am and got to the scene at about 12.45am. The affected shops deal mostly with second hand clothing, bags, shoes and other accessories.

At the time Vanguard visited the market at about 8am, smokes were still emitting from the area though the State Fire Service had battled to put out the flames and some shop owners were seen in groups discussing the incident while some were searching through the rubbles to see what they could salvage.

Speaking at the scene, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Adie Undie, the Management Committee Chairman of Jos North local government area, Mr. Philip Nyam and the Chairman, Traders' Association, Abdulrahman Yussuf explained what they know about the incident.

According to the CP, "This incident happened in the wee hours, we received a report, my DPO in-charge of this area got a report and he promptly alerted me and we equally alerted the State Fire Service and they too did not waste time. They mobilized their men but because of the location of this point of incident, it made it difficult for the Fire Service to promptly put out the fire and avoid the kind of damage that we have here.