By Uche Amunike
Tragedy struck at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja as her Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed that the inferno that occurred at the popular Wuse Market, Abuja razed down about ten shops, after an angry mob reportedly protested the shooting of a man convicted by a mobile court sitting in the market premises.
Recall that a part of the market was set ablaze by an angry mob that included a group of aggrieved traders, after an officer allegedly shot a man that was making an attempt to escape after he was charged and convicted by the said mobile court.
Speaking, during a statement released by its Head of Public Affairs, Nkechi Isa, she stated that the fire was eventually controlled by the combined team of the Federal Fire Service, FCT Fire Service and the Julius Berger Fire Department who were still putting the scene under control to make sure that the fire did not spread.
According to her, the agency received the distress call at 4.05pm. However, the cause of the fire is yet to be known. She noted that the Acting Director General of the Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Sabo has advised residents to properly equip both their houses and offices with equipment for fighting fire.
Her words: ‘Meanwhile, the Ag Director General of FEMA, Mr Mohammed Ibrahim Sabo has again appealed to FCT residents to equip their homes and business places with basic fire fighting equipment like extinguishers and fire blankets. He noted that the 10 Shops affected by the fire incident did not have an extinguisher.’
‘Going forward, the Ag DG appealed to the market management to put a fire tinder in place. Sabo also urged FCT residents to avoid storing petroleum products and other combustible items in their homes.’
The statement continued: ‘No fewer than 10 shops were razed down during a fire incident at the Wuse Market in Abuja. The fire has since been brought under control by a combined team of the Federal Fire Service, FCT Fire Service, and the Julius Berger Fire Department.’
‘Julius Berger Fire Service is still dampening the scene of the fire incident to ensure it does not spread. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. The FCT Emergency Management Agency FEMA received a distress call on the112 emergency toll-free number at 4.05 pm about a fire incident at Wuse Market.’
Another statement was issued by the Police Public Relations Officer of the FCT Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh. She stated that the FCT Police Commissioner, CP Benneth Igweh had already led response teams to the scene of the incident to ensure that normalcy returns to the market.
Hear him: ‘The civil unrest in Wuse. The CP FCT led the response teams of the Command himself to the scene to address and put the situation under control. The police operatives are on ground and normalcy has been restored.’
