Traders lose millions as fire guts shops in Taraba

A fire outbreak in the ATC area of Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, has destroyed goods worth millions of Naira in the early hours of Sunday.

No fewer than 10 shops were affected by the inferno, which started at about 3 a.m.

Gabriel Olayinka, Chief Executive Officer of Taraba News, a media outlet, who lost two shops, urged the government to come to their aid. He lamented that his goods, including stationery, were all burnt to ashes.

Aligning her weight to that of Olayinka, a female victim, who conducted our reporter around her burnt shop, said it would take several years to recover from the shock of the incident.

She urged the state governor and other well-to-do individuals and groups to come to the aid of all the affected persons, stating that ” for us to survive this tragedy, government and other well to do persons have to come to our rescue.”

Another victim, who claimed to have just stocked his shop with goods he purchased with bank loans, urged the government and the humanitarian ministry at the national level to come to their aid.

“I almost collapsed when I arrived here and saw that my shop and all the goods I borrowed money from the bank to purchase have all been engulfed by the fire,” he cried.

Although not officially confirmed, the inferno was said to have been caused by a surge after power supply was restored to the area.