Posted by The Port Harcourt Telegraph on
Traders who own shops off St Andrews Church at the Emenike Junction Friday night suffered a severe set-back. Their stalls were gutted by fire.
Traders who own shops off St Andrews Church at the Emenike Junction Friday night suffered a severe set-back. Their stalls were gutted by fire.
Although when the Telegraph got to the scene, the inferno had been brought under control, our man on the spot said he saw traders going through the ruins to see what they could salvage.
The traders had fought the fire using both water and sand even before external help came.
But as is usual with such occurrences, there were thieves, pretentious thieves who came upon the scene masquerading as helpers.
Some of them succeeded in robbing fire-stricken traders of their valuables regardless of the fact that nearby, there is a police station.
One trader told this publication, "the police did very little to help us. They did the same thing when Mile I market caught fire."
The accusation stuck but it brought to question claims made by police that they are friends of the people whose taxes are used for their upkeep.
Said another, "What does any one want the police to do.? Could they save their own stalls?".
The value of how much was lost is not known but some of the traders said wares lost could run into thousands of naira.
Mostly affected by the fire were stalls that sell clothes, video compact discs (Vcd) and compact discs (cd).
Some of the stalls that had been forced open in order to evacuate goods in them were being sealed as our reporter who visited the scene prepared to leave.
Our investigations show that the fire which struck Friday night started from a generator.
By the time people could make sense of what was happening, the fire had spread. Of late, fire has mysteriously burnt down market stalls in the Diobu axis
Last week the stalls built by the police went up in flames.
Unlike the fire at the Emenike Junction, the actual cause of the fire at the Diobu police station is yet not known.