Victims of the recent fire outbreak at Oja Tuntun Market in Ilọrin West Local Government Area of Kwara State, which affected 15 shops, have shared their traumatic experiences, appealing to the government for assistance.
Mrs. Ada Nwangwo, a seller of clothing who incurred losses exceeding N15 million, urged the government to intervene, stressing that she had borrowed the funds for her business and had just unloaded her goods from Lagos.
Mrs. Doris Chukwudi, another affected trader, revealed the devastation of losing four shops filled with goods valued at N20 million, all of which were consumed by the fire. She expressed the heartbreak of having recently restocked in anticipation of the Christmas season.
Helen Akachukwu, recounting her losses, estimated the value of her destroyed goods at about N500,000.
Chinyere Henry, another trader, shared the distressing news of losing N10 million worth of goods that had just been offloaded.
Abdulfatai Nafisat, a fashion designer, detailed the extent of her losses, including a large weaving machine, four sewing machines, customers’ clothes, and a generator.
Raw food sellers, Wasilat Aliyu and Rebecca Samuel, collectively expressed the devastating impact of losing all their merchandise, amounting to millions of naira.
Pastor Uche Goodwill, the Kwara State Chairman of the Igbo Traders Association, characterized the incident as terrible. After meeting with the victims and assessing the damage, he estimated the total value of lost goods to be over N100 million. Pastor Goodwill earnestly appealed to the government to provide assistance to the affected traders during this challenging time.
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