Goods reportedly worth millions of naira were destroyed during a fire outbreak at Watt, a popular market in Calabar, Cross River.
The fire, which was said to have started around 2:00 am on Thursday, affected no fewer than six shops in the market.
Mrs Olumayowa Olomola, Commanding Officer, Calabar Command, Federal Fire Service, who confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that the fire was caused by a power surge in one of the shopping malls in the market.
Olomola, who could not give an estimate of the the value of the goods destroyed, however said that the affected shops were well stocked.
She noted that but for the timely intervention by her team, the fire would have affected more shops.
Olomola said, “Our response was timely and we could only prevent the fire from spreading beyond the six affected shops.
“My advice is that we should always adopt preventive measures by ensuring we put off all appliances to avoid incidents like this.”
