A fire outbreak in the early hours of Tuesday has destroyed no less than 55 stores in the Herbal Medicine section of the Central Market of Zamfara.
This comes only six weeks after a similar incident swept more than 100 stores in the same market.
The cause of fire, which began around 1:00 am, is still clear as the investigations continue.
However, there are suspicions that may have been triggered by certain flammable herbs stored in some stores, although an official conclusion has not been reached.
The president of the affected section, Alhaji Sa'adu Dahiru, confirmed the scale of destruction and described the incident as devastating.
“The fire also destroyed some stores belonging to blouse and condiments sellers,” he said. “I know some of our members who lost everything. They have families and trust this business to keep them.
“There is one of our members who maintained his N50,000 in the store with the intention of taking him to the bank today (Tuesday), but the money was razed along with his assets. I am appealing to the state government that seeks our difficult situation and supports us financially.”
The managing director of the market, Alhaji Ahmad Salihu Shinkafi, declared that management was still investigating the root cause of the fire.
“So some of the merchants told us, it was lit by a herb that does not resist excess heat. They said that once there is an excess of heat, it can explode. But we are still investigating the real cause of the fire,” he said.
He also described the already established preventive measures: “We had prohibited the use of fire within the market facilities. That is why we do not allow tea vendors, food vendors and other people who use fire approaching the market. So only God knows what caused this hell.”
As the victims tell their losses and the call to government intervention, the tragedy highlights the growing concern for recurrent fire disasters in the markets throughout the north of Nigeria.