Most affected was the Shopping Plaza housing fashion and phones shops.
The cause of the inferno could not be immediately established, though eye witness accounts alleged that it was as a result of electrical fault.
There was panic within the city as though the fire service responded immediately, they could however not stop the fire as a result of difficulty to gain access to the section of the market due to lack of thoroughfare.
Other victims of the outbreak were mainly dealers on eye glasses, phone accessories and tailoring materials. A trader simply identified as Levi was the worst-hit as all wares in his shop were said to have been completely razed.
When THISDAY visited the scene, policemen and other security outfits had cordoned off the Ama JK end of the market, thereby making it impossible for people to gain entrance to the market and apparently to prevent possible looting by hoodlums.
The traders were seen wailing over their goods went up in flames.
A business man who pleaded anonymity called on the state government to assist them to rebuild the market with concrete structures so as to avoid re-occurrence of similar incidents in future. He however, appealed to the state Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha to assuage the living standard of the traders particularly those who have lost their means of livelihood through the fire outbreak at the shopping complex.
