The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, on Wednesday sympathized with the traders and management of Wuse Market in Abuja following the fire incident that destroyed goods worth billions of naira.
It was earlier reported how a section of the popular market was razed by a mob after a suspect, Ibrahim Yahaya, was shot by an officer of the Nigeria Correctional Service for attempting to escape from custody in the wake of his conviction at a mobile court at the market.
The FCT-Emergency Management authority also confirmed that 10 shops in the market was affected by the fire, whose cause has ‘yet to be ascertained.’
In a similar development, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, disclosed in a statement on Tuesday that preliminary investigation revealed the victim was apprehended and taken before a mobile court by a task force of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board.
She explained that the late Yahaya was being conveyed to prison after his conviction before the shooting occurred when the deceased jumped off the vehicle of the correctional service to escape.
Reacting to the incident, Kingibe sent a delegation, comprising senior aides and stalwarts of Labour Party led by Danlami Umar and Yakubu Francis to sympathise with traders who lost their shops and wares to tne inferno on Thursday.
Addressing the audience, Francis explained that they were on a fact finding and commiseration visit on behalf of the senator to ascertain the level of damage caused by the fire.
While urging them to remain calm, he assured that every issue relating to the incident will be properly addressed once the ongoing investigations by relevant stakeholders are concluded.
“This delegation is here to sympathise with you people on behalf of the distinguished FCT senator, Ireti Kingibe. We are here to gather information about the exact cause of the fire incident so we know what to do and where to come in.
“Although we have met with the police and the market management, we decided to also hear from people whose shops were affected by the inferno,” he stated.
Meanwhile one of the affected jewellery shop owners, Abdulrahaman Abdulahi, who said he lost gold worth almost N1b lamented that the market has never experienced such level of disaster since inception.
Abdulahi therefore called on the Federal Government and Federal Capital Territory Administration to come to their aid, decrying that many traders were seriously affected by the incident.
