A commercial building in Benin City, Edo State, was engulfed in an early morning fire, resulting in the destruction of goods worth over N50 million.
The fire broke out around 4 am at the building on Second East Circular Road, opposite New Market. Most of the shop owners in the building were traders of used clothes and foodstuffs. A couple who operated two shops in the building suffered losses of goods worth N10 million.
The fire is believed to have started from repeated electric sparks from a wire connected to an electricity pole in front of one of the shops and quickly spread to other stalls.
The Edo State Fire Service arrived on time and managed to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby buildings. However, one trader alleged foul play and claimed to be the target of the fire, stating that she had lost goods worth N40 million. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.
