Shop Owners In Debt As Fire Destroys Goods In Jalingo

Traders along Roadblock in Jalingo, the capital of Taraba State, are facing financial hardship as their shops were engulfed in flames on Saturday morning, resulting in the destruction of goods worth millions of naira.

The fire, suspected to have started from a gas cylinder, swept through the businesses along Roadblock in the Jalingo metropolis, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

At the time of writing this report, shop owners were salvaging what was left of their goods.

Sympathisers were seen trying to douse the fire as firefighters were not at the scene.

Some of them who spoke to our correspondent said the absence of firefighters caused the huge losses to the inferno.

A shop owner lamented that the firefighters arrived after the destruction had occurred and hastily departed due to insufficient equipment to combat the raging inferno.

A firefighter, speaking confidentially to our reporter, disclosed, “We lack the necessary firefighting equipment in this state, and our office has been struggling to operate with limited resources.”

Expressing hope for support from relevant authorities, the firefighter underscored the urgent need for logistical assistance, stating, “With this development, we hope and pray that the relevant authorities will now deem it fit to come to our support because, in terms of logistics, we are far behind compared to our colleagues in other states.”

Police operatives have been deployed to the scene to prevent looting of goods by enraged youths.