The popular Oba Market in Benin City, the Edo State capital, has been destroyed by fire and properties worth millions of naira lost.
It was gathered that the fire started around 12:05 a.m. today and raged till 6 a.m., before it was put out by a team of fire fighters.
There was no public electricity supply when the fire started, thereby ruling out the possibility of electrical spark, while the actual cause of the fire had not been ascertained.
Many of the traders were crying uncontrollably over the loss of their valuable goods, estimated to be hundreds of millions of naira, while the demoralised traders were pleading with Governor Godwin Obaseki and others to come to their aid, for their lives not to be miserable, having lost their sources of livelihood, at this crucial period of COVID-19 pandemic.
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