Breaking Fire razes seven shops in Edo

Seven shops located on a building along Mission Road in Benin City, Edo State, have been razed by a mysterious fire.

Goods worth millions of naira were destroyed in the inferno that started at about 10:30pm on Thursday, after many of the traders had gone home.

Men of the Edo State Fire Service were said to have stopped the fire from spreading to over 20 shops.

Sympathisers were seen consoling some of the traders whose goods were consumed by the fire.

An eyewitness, Iyomnahan Orma, said the fire may have been caused by a power 

Iyomnahan Orma said, “If not for the Christmas show and ‎the fire service, the shops would have gone down, not a single shop would have remained. It has happened before and when it happened, every shop was affected.

A victim, who gave his name as Emmanuel, said the fire could have been the handiwork of suspected arsonists.

He said it was a painful loss as it happened a week to the Xmas celebration.

“We came here by 2:00am and we saw that everywhere was on fire. The fire servicemen came and tried their best. They save some shops but some other were already burnt.

“After everything, we found out that many shops, like seven had been burnt down. As you can see, the value of the goods affected is up to millions of naira. I am very shocked, it feels like a dream.

“I don’t think it was an electrical fault because four or five shops caught fire immediately. If it were an electrical problem, it (fire) would have started gradually.”