Fire has destroyed goods and property worth millions of Naira at Afor-Opi Market in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.
An eyewitness, Mr Linus Eze, Chairman of Opi Traders Association, who was at the scene of the incident on Friday said a petrol tanker explosion on Thursday evening caused the fire
Eze said the driver of the tanker tried to dodge pot-holes on the road but lost control and the tanker fell down, exploding and went up into flames.
“Because of the oil spilling from the tanker, fire gutted some shops in the market as people started running helter skelter shouting for help.
“Residents and passersby tried to put out the fire but it was not possible,” he said.
The chairman said it was the prompt response of the Enugu State Fire Service that saved more shops from being razed.
The lawmaker representing Nsukka East Constituency at the Enugu State House of Assembly, Pius Ezeugwu, who was at the market to see things for himself and assess the level of damage caused by the explosion, thanked God that no life was lost.
Ezeugwu said the incident could have been prevented if Afor-Opi road was tarred, urging the Enugu State and Federal Governments to urgently fix the bad road.
“This incident is avoidable, because the driver was trying to dodge deep pot-holes that caused the tanker to fall and explode.
The lawmaker assured traders whose shops and goods were destroyed by fire that both the Federal and State Governments would come to their rescue.
One of the traders whose shops and goods were destroyed, Mrs Chinyere Agam, said she is yet to recover from the shock of watching her shop completely destroyed by fire.
“Government should come to my aid urgently because it is from this shop that I get money to take care of my family.
“I lost over N500,000 worth of goods to fire,” she said.
A community Leader and former Vice-Chairman, Nsukka Local Government Council, Mr Cosmos Agbo, described the petrol explosion as unfortunate but thanked God that no life was lost.
Agbo, however, appealed to the State and Federal Governments to fix the bad Opi road as the road had suffered neglect for so many years.
