Shop owners count losses as fire razes Bureau De Change outlets in Edo

• Four shops razed in another incident
Shop owners in a commercial building near Ekiosa market in Benin City, Edo State capital have counted their losses following a fire outbreak that occurred in the early hours of Tuesday and destroyed goods worth billions of naira.

The Guardian learnt that the fire, which started at about 1:30a.m., following an electrical surge when power was restored, also razed a bureau de change shop and burnt foreign and local currencies.

The caretaker of the building and a trader, Sani Yakubu, said about 20 shops were affected, adding that all the goods were destroyed.

He said: “I was at home when I got a call that the building was on fire. I ran down, but we could not savage any good because the shops were on fire.

“Aside the goods, Bureau De change operators have shops here. Euros, Dollars and other foreign and local currencies were burnt to ashes.

“Nobody took anything out of their shops. Provisions, electronic gadgets, generators among others, including dollars and Euros were destroyed.

“I can say billions of naira were lost to fire. Our hope is in God and we believe it is an act of God.”

One of the traders, Ugochinyere Francis, who suffered a huge loss, said the fire razed her cosmetics and mother’s provision shops.

RELATEDLY, Fire fighters from the Federal Fire Service, Edo State Fire Service, Nigerian Army School of Supply and Transport Benin, the University of Benin Fire Service (UNIBEN) and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), yesterday, battled helplessly to put out a raging fire that engulfed four shops on the busy Ugbowo-Lagos road.

The Guardian learnt that the fire started from one of the shops, dealing in hospital and laboratory equipment, and later spread to other shops within the building.

It was gathered that the fire incident occurred at about 2:00p.m. and caused a lot of anxiety as residents and shop owners made frantic efforts to salvage the goods, while firefighters tried to put out the fire without success.

When The Guardian visited the scene, four shops directly opposite the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) were completely razed.

One of the victims who operate a boutique, Mr Sunday Madubuko, said the fire started from a shop next to his at about 2:45p.m.

“A sales girl ran to my shop telling me that there was a fire outbreak in their office.

“I told her I don’t have a fire extinguisher. Before I knew it, the fire extended to my boutique. The fire started from the laboratory shop and spread to other shops. The cause of the fire, I still don’t know. I lost goods worth over N20 million in the incident,” Madubuko lamented.