Nigeria: Fire razes hundreds of shops in Katsina market

By Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu

KANO, Nigeria (AA) – Hundreds of shops were burned down on Monday after a fire engulfed a central market in Katsina city in northwest Nigeria.

Traders of the burned market told Anadolu Agency by phone the fire started at around 8 a.m. local time in some shops at the center of the market, and spread quickly to other shops, destroying property worth billions of naira, mostly belonging to traders selling clothes, shoes, kitchen utensils, carpets, and plastics.

Some of the affected traders said they had no idea how the fire started, adding they had lost everything in their shops to the fire.

Alhaji Tijjani Abdullahi, whose shop was among those destroyed, said the fire's cause is still unknown, adding that firefighters could not reach the affected areas in time because shops had blocked the access road.

Malam Ibrahim Muhammad Alaramma, another victim who sells kitchen utensils, said that he and other traders lost everything to the fire.
Katsina State Governor Bello Masari visited the destroyed market and was shocked to see the damage caused by the fire, Abdullahi said.