Calabar Traders appeal for govt intervention as fire guts goods at Watt Market

Traders at the Watt Market in Calabar Metropolis have appealed for help from the Cross River State government, as an early morning fire gutted goods at the market.

The fire incident, which started about 1 am on Thursday, destroyed goods in at least ten shops and was suspected to have arisen from an electrical fault.

The value of goods had yer to be officially established as of press tine

Confirming the incident, the president of the Capital Traders Umbrella Association, CATU, Elder Ededet Edem, said at least ten shops were affected and the fault was likely to come from an electrical fault in one of the shops.

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Elder Edem said, “Up till now, I don’t know the cause of the fire incident, and the fire started from one of the shops.

“About ten shops were affected and were all burnt down, the cause has not been established yet, but one of my members said they called her at about 1 am to inform her that her shop was affected.

“But I believe it must have been an electrical fault,” he said.

Elder Edem, however, appealed to the state government to come to the aid of the affected traders, especially at this time the country is in dire economic straits.

“Government should come to the rescue of those affected. In 2017, it was the same thing, and we followed up. He wrote letters during the time of the former governor, but nothing was done.

“One of my members said they brought in goods the day before yesterday and yesterday, and the whole thing has been consumed.

“The state government should please come to their aid most especially at this present time”, he said.

Also speaking on the incident, the Commanding Officer, Calabar Command, Federal Fire Service, Mrs Olumayowa Olomola said that the fire was caused by a power surge in one of the shopping malls at the market.

Olomola, who could not give an estimate of the goods destroyed in the affected shops, however, said that the shops were well stocked.