Fire Guts Popular Calabar Watt Market
BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – Goods and property estimated at over one billion Naira have been lost to an early Thursday morning inferno at the popular Watt Market in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
Though the source of the fire was not immediately known, eyewitnesses’ accounts attribute the incident to an electrical fault that occurred in one of the shops.
Forefront correspondent, who visited the incident scene, reports that the fire mainly affected the Eyo Edem and Hewett axis of the market where second-hand shoes, popularly known as Belgium products, as well as cosmetic shops and bookshops, are located.
Many of the affected traders and shop owners as well as their sympathizers were seen clearing debris and struggling to evacuate some of the salvaged items.
Regrettably, it was also a field day for some miscreants and shoplifters who were seen breaking down the burglary proofs and iron bars in the burnt shops to loot the items among the wreckages.
One of the affected shop owners, Chief Livinus Iwuala, whose beverage shop was completely razed with nothing to salvage, told Forefront News that he lacks words to explain his predicament as he is only looking up to the Almighty God for consolation and recovery from the huge losses recorded due to the fire incident
Chief Iwuala, who holds the traditional title of Ohjewete 1 of Mbiere Community in Imo State, said after closing early to attend Governor Bassey Edet Otu’s 64th birthday dinner as one of the invited guests, he was devastated by a phone call at about 4 am announcing that his shop was on fire.
According to him, rushing to the scene, it was already too late to evacuate anything from the shop even as firefighters from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) battled hard to bring the fire under control.
He said it is unfortunate information gathered indicates that efforts made to alert the State Fire Service of the incident on time proved abortive as the personnel complained of lacking the necessary equipment to render any form of assistance.
Chief Iwuala also pointed out that even the firefighters from the NPA, who responded to the distress call promptly, later ran out of water that could have assisted them in tackling the fire adequately.
