Kebbi timber marketers lose N192m in early morning inferno

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By El-Yakub Dabai, Birnin Kebbi

An early morning inferno has destroyed a section of the timber market located at Bayan-Kara area of Birnin Kebbi, the Kebbi State Capital, on Sunday, with the affected timber sellers incurring a loss of about N192 million amidst Eid-el-Kabir festivities.

An eye witness, Mallam Yahaya, informed Journalists that the cause of the fire was attributable to an electric spark in one of the shops after power was restored by the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company.

“At about 5 am on Sunday, we noticed flames from a shop shortly after power was restored in the area, which quickly spread to other stalls, engulfing hundreds of timber and plywoods inside and outside the enclosure

“One of our members instantaneous, rode on a motorcycle to the headquarters of the Fire Service and reported the incident, whose men responded immediately and positively and put out the fire”, he said.

Kebbi State Deputy Governor, Sen. Umar Abubakar Tafida, who inspected the scene of the outbreak, expressed deep sympathy with the victims.

“On behalf of Governor Nasir Idris, the government is donating N10 million in the interim, to enable you recoupe part of your losses

“The administration under Comrade Nasir Idris will fully respond with lasting assistance to those affected restart business after complete assessment of the tragedy is carried out”, Sen. Tafida assured.

The Chairman of the Timber Marketers Association, Bello Dan-Sambo, thanked the deputy Governor for the visit, expressing immense gratitude to Governor Nasir Idris for his kind gesture of donating an initial sum of ten million naira to his members who suffered loss.

A total of nine timber merchants were the identified victims of the fire outbreak with cumulative losses of N191.7 million in timber and other related roofing materials.

The deputy Governor was accompanied on the visit by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Yakubu Ahmed Birnin Kebbi, the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Muhammed Dangi Juli and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Abubakar Muhammad.