FIRE RAZES BENIN SUPERMARKET, DESTROYS GOODS WORTH MILLIONS

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By: Muftau Fatimo

Fire broke out on Sunday afternoon and gutted parts of Anambra Supermarket in Ikpoba Hill, Benin City, Edo State, leaving goods worth millions of naira destroyed.

The blaze reportedly began on the first floor of the two-storey building and is suspected to have been caused by a fault in one of the solar panels installed on the roof.

A video circulating on social media showed residents and passers-by attempting to put out the flames before firefighters from the Edo State Fire Service and the Federal Fire Service arrived at the scene.

An eyewitness, Chukwuemeka Adimorah, who described himself as a friend of the supermarket owner, said he was returning from church when he got news of the incident and quickly informed the owner’s wife.

When I was coming from church, I found out that the supermarket was on fire. I called the wife of the owner, but she told me she was already aware and had alerted the fire service. I want to commend the fire service personnel for their efforts. They did a good job,” he said.

Another witness, Lucky Bright, said the prompt intervention of firefighters helped prevent the blaze from consuming the entire building.

“I was also returning from church when I noticed the fire. The response from the fire service was timely and helped to save the supermarket from complete destruction,” he said.

Also speaking, Blessing Aidengbe attributed the incident to a possible fault in one of the solar panels mounted on the building.

“I suspect there was a faulty panel among those installed on the roof because such faults can trigger a fire outbreak,” he said.

Although no casualty was recorded, goods and property worth millions of naira were reportedly destroyed in the inferno.

Efforts to get an official reaction from the Edo State Fire Service were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.