Vehicles, shops, and equipment worth millions of naira have been burned to ashes in Owerri, Imo state’s Old Timber Market along Wethderal road.
According to an eyewitness, the fire started around 2 a.m. on Saturday.
Some people speculated on the cause of the fire, blaming it on an electrical fault. It was caused, as others claimed, by the burning of dustbins in the surrounding area.
A visit to the scene of the incident, saw sympathisers helping to extinguish the light. Some were seen evacuating the debris.
Just as scavengers were on hand to buy the damaged roofs, irons, and other items for their business.
An eyewitness said some of the shop owners had travelled and their apprentices were the ones around to witness the ugly incident.
One of the eyewitnesses who introduced himself as Mr Ike said: “The fire started burning around 2 am on Saturday. At first, we saw a small fire and we thought it was somebody burning a refuse dump. After about 30 minutes we started hearing explosions from different areas inside the market.
“And it became a large fire. It burnt the transformer. It burnt the vehicles. The fire burnt the furniture, the shops were completely razed down. Many properties were destroyed. We lost a lot of things. I work around the market and make some money from assisting in doing one or two jobs.”
Other sympathisers said: “The incident happened when people were preparing for the Christmas season and it will put a hardship on the victims and make them suffer more.”