Eleven shops were destroyed in the early hours of New Year’s Day by a fire outbreak at Jimeta Modern Market, popularly known as Falluja Market, in Adamawa State.
A trader at the market, Mallam Abubakar Yahaya, said the fire started around midnight when traders had already left the market.
He explained that the absence of shop owners, firefighters and officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) at the time allowed the fire to spread rapidly, consuming goods in the affected shops.
According to Yahaya, security personnel stationed within the market, including police officers and local vigilantes, later intervened to contain the inferno and prevent it from spreading to other sections of the market.
Preliminary findings, he said, indicated that the fire originated from a second-hand clothing shop and was suspected to have been caused by an electrical fault.
No life was lost in the incident, while the extent of the damage could not be immediately determined as of the time of filing this report.
