President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed grief over the destruction caused by the early morning fire at the popular Maiduguri Monday Market, on Sunday.
In a statement by his Spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Sunday, Buhari called for vigilance as winds and rising temperatures increase the risks of fires in forests, homes, public buildings and markets.
He said, ”the nation’s prayers and condolences are with the hardworking traders and their families who have reportedly saved very little or nothing from the fire.”
Buhari commended the immediate response of Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno to the incident and directed effective coordination and collaboration between federal and state agencies to bring needed relief to those who are affected.
The president urged the state and federal agencies responsible for fire management to strive towards higher levels of preparedness, mitigation efforts and strengthening their response mechanisms.
This, he said, would help in dealing with the increasing menace of market and other fire disaster.
In the meantime, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq has expressed sadness over the fire incident which gutted the Monday Market in Maiduguri, Borno state early Sunday.
Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze in a statement on Sunday said the raging inferno which was said to have started at about 2 am spread to different parts of the market, destroying many shops and property worth billions of Naira.Umar Farouq described the incident as unfortunate and a great loss to the nation’s economy.
“We received the sad news early this morning of the fire disaster which engulfed the biggest market in Maiduguri. We understand that goods and shops worth billions of naira have been destroyed by the raging fire.
“This is a great loss to the country’s economy, especially Borno state which is just beginning to recover from the destruction and losses as a result of insurgency and banditry. We sympathize with the state government and people of Borno state, especially the traders whose livelihoods have gone up in flames following the fire incident.
“I have directed the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA to help with Search and Rescue operations of property to see what can be salvaged and to ascertain the level of damage and loss at the Monday Market”.
The 35 year old Monday Market is the largest trading hub in the North East . Hundreds of shops and warehouses were said to be affected by the inferno.