Fire Guts Popular Monday Market In Maiduguri

An inexplicable fire has destroyed the complete complex of Maiduguri’s Monday Market in Borno State. The fire destroyed hundreds of stores within the market, which broke out around midnight and burned until Sunday morning.

According to sources with direct knowledge of the event, the fire broke out around midnight, after most of the city’s residents had gone to bed after spending most of the day casting ballots in Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.

The market, regarded as the largest in the North-east area and founded about 35 years ago as Maiduguri Monday Market Ltd., has remained the foundation of the Borno State’s economy.

Bawa Gana, the market management’s information manager, said, “the fire has burned the entire market complex.”

Thousands of residents, primarily traders, were seen swarming the market during a visit to the fire scene. Some of them could be seen crying. Most business owners and sympathizers said they could not understand how the fire could have begun in the first place.

Isa Sale, a grieving trader, stated, “This market has no power connection from the national grid, and the management does not permit illegal connection to a solar panel or batteries.”

“Saturday was Voting Day, so the market was closed. We are concerned about what might have caused the fire because of this, added Bashir Aji, another bystander.

According to those who live close to the market, the Borno State Fire Department members had been working nonstop since 1:00 a.m. to put out the now-extinguished raging fire. First, however, the firefighters had to deal with the thronging people who had obstructed the entrance to the market while working through the night until around 7:00 a.m.

The Monday market fire in Maiduguri may have resulted in the merchants losing goods worth billions of naira. The Popular Monday market has been a major player in revenue generation for the State, and this will be a significant loss to the enterprising people of the State.