Monday Market in Maiduguri, the biggest in Borno State, has been gutted by fire, destroying many shops and property worth billions of naira.
learnt that the fire started around 2am on Sunday and has spread to different parts of the market.
The cause of the fire is still unknown but eyewitnesses said the fire started early morning around 2am.
Many traders wept uncontrollably, counting their losses to the inferno.
An official of the market, who identified himself simply as, Goni, said there are over 10,000 shops in the market.
“The market is the destination of all good that are brought into Maiduguri from Kano, Lagos, and even outside Nigeria.
“It’s a great loss the economy, it’s a great loss to our livelihood, especially now that the people have started recovering from the devastation of Boko Haram insurgency,” he said.
Efforts to put out the fire by the state fire service have not yielded results, as the fire continues to rage, destroying the largest part of the market.
Our correspondents observed a large number of youths looting from the goods that were saved from the raging fire.
Also, banks that are operating in the market area were affected.
Meanwhile, soldiers have been deployed to the scene to arreste the looting and vandalisation of some nearby shops.
