Sokoto State Government will assist the victims of the fire that razed the tubers, vegetables and fruits market in Sokoto, Gov. Aminu Tambuwal, has promised.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market popularly called ” kasuwar daji” was razed by fire last Thursday night. The fire destroyed no fewer than one hundred shops, an articulated vehicle loaded with yam tubers, among others; but no life was lost and nobody sustained injury. The State deputy governor, Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu, who visited the market on Saturday on behalf of the governor, commiserated with the affected traders. He expressed shock at the extent of damage caused by the fire and prayed Allah to compensate and reward those who lost their shops and goods.
“Gov. Tambuwal is away in Abuja for official engagements and he had asked me to come and commiserate with you and report back to him for urgent intervention by the government.
“I am sure as soon he (Tambuwal) set his foot in Sokoto, we will come back here for him to see the extent of the damage,’’ Aliyu said. He assured that the market which provides perishable and food items to residents of Sokoto city and its environs would soon bounce back.
He promised that action would be taken by the government to ease the hardship faced by the victims. He challenged the management of the market to take the issue of safety seriously and always abide by the rules.
“You must ensure that all roads leading to the market are not indiscriminately blocked. “This is to allow fire service vehicles easy passage to deal with any unforeseen unpalatable incidents like fire disasters and other possible emergencies,” Aliyu said.
The leader of the market, Malam Muhammad Sokoto, who expressed happiness with the visit, told the deputy governor that assorted foodstuffs worth millions of Naira were lost to the fire. He said that the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained and appealed to the government to come to the aid of the victims.
The Special Assistant to the Deputy Governor, Aminu Abdullahi, in a statement, said that the government would set up a committee to unravel the remote and immediate remote cause of the fire. He added that the committee would also recommend the nature of assistance to be rendered to the affected traders.