Fire at about 12pm today engulfed the Nupe line section of Igbudu market in Warri, Delta State.
Properties worth several millions of naira were destroyed and lost in the inferno.
Details of the fire incident were still sketchy at the time of this report.
Traders at the market were seen crying and packing rubbles from their burnt shops.
It was learnt that it took the swift intervention of the officials of the Delta State Fire Service and the Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC fire department to put out the fire.
In an interview with Our Correspondent, the Etsu-Nupe of Warri and its environs, Zuberu Mohammed Tajudeen whose storey building is close to the compound where the fire started confirmed the incident.
He said, “We don’t know how the fire started. We only perceived the smell of burning but we could not trace the exact thing that was burning. All we saw later was fire. The fire finished the building close to my building.
“When the fire was burning, I was afraid. It took the intervention of the fire service of the Delta State Government with that of SPDC to stop it. The Urhobos in Igbudu No. 2 and the Hausa boys in Hausa Quarters also helped us a great deal. They helped to quench the fire.
“I thank God because my building was spared. I don’t have any other thing. This is the only place where I get my daily bread from. I am happy.”
Alhaji Tajudeen also used the medium to appeal to the Delta State Government to establish a fire service substation in the Igbudu market to aid the traders whenever there is a fire outbreak.
He urged the government to come to the rescue of the traders by providing financial support to cushion their losses.