Shops and goods estimated at millions of naira have been destroyed by a night fire that razed a market on the popular Iweka Road, close to Ochanja market in Onitsha, the Anambra State capital.

The fire, which started at 08:30pm on Tuesday, razed shops that had furniture materials such as leathers, foams, and others.

Although the cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained, it was gathered that the fire raged for several minutes before the arrival of the firefighters as some of the traders had already gone home before the fire started.

Residents and sympathisers were seen trying to salvage some of the remnants of the goods in the shops while calling on the affected traders to come back to the market.

Confirming the fire incident on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Anambra State Fire Service, Chukwudi Chiketa, said the agency received a distress call at 09:40pm on Wednesday and deployed a crew of firemen and firefighting equipment to the scene.

According to Chiketa, the crew stopped the fire from further escalation.

….Says Ibas only Accountable To Tinubu,Wike Only

The National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) in the United States has rejected the appointment of Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired vice-admiral, as sole administrator of Rivers state.

BACKGROUND

On March 18, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, citing the protracted political crisis and vandalisation of oil facilities.

The president suspended Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers state governor, Ngozi Odu, his deputy, and all house of assembly members for six months.

Tinubu also appointed Ibas as the sole administrator for Rivers state.

On March 20, the senate and the house of representatives controversially ratified Tinubu’s request for the emergency rule.

The presidency had said the decision to prevent further escalation of the political crisis in south-south state.

A statement on Wednesday by Lloyd Ukwu, NADECO USA president, said Ibas would only be accountable to Tinubu, Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory(FCT), and not the people of Rivers state.

Ukwu claimed that Tinubu lacks the constitutional authority to suspend Fubara and appoint a sole administrator, describing the appointment as “illegitimate”.

“Nigeria operates as a federation, with Rivers State as a sovereign entity, and Tinubu, as President, lacks the constitutional authority to unilaterally suspend an elected governor like Fubara,” he said.

“Rivers State is not a subordinate institution, neither is it a High School and Tinubu is not its overseer and not the Principal of a high school who can suspend a student willy-nilly.

“In a democracy, sovereignty resides with the citizens, not with an unelected administrator or an aspiring autocrat or want-to-be civilian dictator in Abuja.

“Governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed—leaders are entrusted with the power to serve the people, not to rule over them by imposing an administrator over them.

“The people of Rivers State exercised their democratic right in 2023 by electing Siminalayi Fubara as their governor.

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“They did not choose an imposed administrator. NADECO therefore demands the immediate resignation of this illegitimate appointee.

“True democracy requires that governance be rooted in the people’s will, expressed through free and fair elections.

“This imposed administrator is accountable not to Rivers people but to Tinubu, Akpabio, Kereke-Ekun, and Wike. His allegiance lies with these political actors, not with the citizens he claims to govern.

“The principle of ‘Power to the People’ is enshrined in Nigeria’s constitution and international human rights instruments, including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Upholding this principle, NADECO insists that Rivers people must completely and resolutely reject this illegal administrator, forcing his resignation. Anything less is unacceptable.”