In this piece, our correspondent, Abba – Eku Onyekachi writes on what has become annual fire outbreaks at Karmo Daily Market, located in Karmo, Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
Karmo Market, which started as a weekly Tuesday market, has for a long time been turned into a daily market, where many make a reasonable living from. It is one of the markets, if not the largest, where you can buy food stuff at affordable price. The market whose shops were originally built with solid block cement was demolished in the year 2006 by the authority, resulting into rebuilding it in form of shanties with zincs, by the traders, who had no other alternative, than to continue to fend for their families.
Since its rebuilding, the market and its traders have been suffering from unquenchable fire outbreak, making the traders losing all their wares. Although some areas were spared, but majority of those spoken to by our correspondent said that the most affected, whenever the inferno happens are the Igbo traders, with the reason that the fire outbreak regularly occurs at the centre of the market, where the Igbo trader have their shops and wares.
Although all efforts made to speak to the chairman of the market proved abortive after the inferno, as he refused to make a comment, but the immediate past chairman, Makata Sylvanus when contacted said that, apart from minor fire outbreaks, the market has majorly been gutted by inferno on 1st day of December, 2017; 7th day of July, 2021; 31st day of March, 2022 and the present one that happened on Wednesday, the 17th of January, 2024. Makata however informed that he gathered that the market would soon be solidly rebuilt in line with the court judgement in 2018, as the traders took the government to court for demolishing the market
Similarly speaking, a trader in the market, Kingsley Mba when spoken to said: “I came to Abuja since 1989; served my master in this market for six years, and started my own business in this market too. We started experiencing fire incident in this market right from 2017 and this one is the fourth time. I don’t know the causes of these regular fire outbreaks, because after demolition this market suffered at the hand of the authority in 2006, and this is the fourth time fire out break started from a particular container in this market.
“After the demolition, we sued the government and won the case in 2018 and since then, we have been begging the government to obey the court and rebuild the market with cement block, which if done, will reduce the fire outbreaks. Personally, I lost about N12 million to this inferno, because I just came back from on 11th from my father’s burial. I used all the money I made during the festive period in buying goods and all have now been consumed by fire.
“During one of the fire outbreaks, NEMA came and gave us some small bags of rice and corns, without financial assistance. The traders mostly affected are the Igbo, because, the unaffected area are occupied by Hausa traders. In fact, it is the Igbo that suffer it.”
The Patron of the Market Traders, Felix Eze, when spoken to had this to say: “The fire outbreak didn’t affect my shed, but it affected my wife’s shed and goods there – in. As we were bringing out our goods, looters were busy carting away with them. I wouldn’t know the cause of the inferno, but the people who suffered from it were the Igbo people. It didn’t get to the place where the Hausa traders are. We have suffered from an inferno of this nature for the fourth time now.”
Eze therefore informed that they were working with the indigenes to find out the causes of the inferno, adding that the fire outbreak happens in a particular area, where the Igbo people have their shops. “It starts from a particular containers, whose owner I don’t,” he stated.
While speaking to the Assistant Secretary of the Market Traders Association, Zikirula Abubakar, he narrated thus: “I don’t know the causes of the fire incident, and the shop where the fire incident started, there is no light there in, and secondly, what is sold in the shop are things like alcoholic drinks. All efforts made by the security agents to quench the fire which started around 12 am on Wednesday proved abortive. This inferno took place in this market in 2017, 2018, 2022/2023 and this 2024.
“At its demolition, we took government to court and won, but uptill now, the government is yet to obey the court rulings of rebuilding the market. We are working with the indigenes to develop the market and we have good relationship with them. The fire affected all the tribes in the market and the damage we had here was more than N20 billion.
The Village Head of Karmo Sabo, Chief Umar Gani Sarkin Karmo, when interviewed believed that, it is only God that knows the causes of the incident, saying that he believes that anything that God decrees to happen, no human being will stop it.
“We are investigating why this thing has been happening. We pray God to touch the government to come to our aid and rebuild the market, as well as come to the assistance of the traders, because many of them buy on credit and others, by borrowing money. Let the government please intervene, to enable them start all over again,” he pleaded.
While speaking to HRH John Osai, being the Igbo paramount ruler in Karmo, he said: “I am not happy that this market is being gutted by fire everytime and billions of Naira worth goods that belong to my people, Igbo traders damaged. When this started around 1 am, I couldn’t sleep again, knowing fully well that it will affect my people. Let this be the first and last there will be inferno in this market, because if this happens again, I shall not take it lightly and they will know that I am from Enugu – Ezike, Enugu state. I know many of the affected Igbo traders.”
The site of Karmo Daily Market of the FCT razed and reduced to dust by the gigantic conflagration on Wednesday.
