An early morning fire on Friday destroyed shops and valuables at the Nkwo Enugu-Ukwu Market Square in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, adding to a series of fire disasters recorded across the state within one week.
The latest incident, which occurred around 3am, affected provision shops and roofing materials. It brings to about six the number of fire outbreaks recently recorded in Anambra, including last Friday’s petrol tanker explosion near the Ozubulu Local Government Secretariat that killed one person and razed six shops, as well as a factory fire in Nnewi on Wednesday. Several shops were also burnt earlier in the week in a three-storey building at Nodu Market, behind Juhel Pharmaceutical Company in Awka South.
A shop owner at the Nkwo Enugu-Ukwu Market, who spoke anonymously, blamed the incident on poor electrical connections, noting that many traders were alerted in the night but arrived to find their shops already engulfed in flames.
Confirming the incident, the Head of Media and Publicity of the Anambra State Fire Service, Chukwudi Chiketa, said a distress call was received at 3:43am and firefighters were immediately deployed to the scene.
He said preliminary investigations showed the fire was caused by sparks from an electrical appliance following a power surge.
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“Firefighters initiated suppression operations upon arrival. Thanks to the swift and coordinated response, the destruction was confined to a single shop. No casualties were recorded,” Chiketa stated.
He urged traders to carry out thorough electrical inspections and always switch off appliances when not in use to prevent future occurrences.
Meanwhile, in the earlier Nodu Market incident, several shops in a three-storey commercial building were burnt in a blaze believed to have started after an occupant reportedly fell asleep while cooking. Firefighters eventually contained the inferno, which caused damage running into millions of naira, with no casualties recorded.