Fire engulfs Akwa Ibom market; traders blame lack of fuel for fire truck

Blackened palm oil and burnt debris marked the scene at Akwa Ibom's Akpan Andem Market after a fire ravaged stalls and goods. Traders surveyed the wreckage of collapsed wooden stalls, melted buckets, and scorched produce, their livelihoods reduced to ashes. The fire, which began around 1 a.m. on May 19 near a container shop used as a cold room, spread rapidly through the densely packed market. Witnesses and fire service officials told PREMIUM TIMES that the market's own fire station truck could not be deployed due to a lack of diesel fuel. Residents and traders formed human chains, using buckets and basins to ferry water from nearby homes and a hotel to combat the flames. Federal firefighters eventually arrived hours later, after the chairman of Uyo Local Government intervened. By then, millions of naira in goods had been lost. Utibe Udeme, who stored drums of palm oil, estimated his losses at over 12 million naira, stating he had invested everything and taken out loans. "Now I am back to square one," he said. Irene Edet sifted through the remains of her shop, which contained charred bags of rice, beans, and tomatoes.

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If not for the people in this street, this fire would have consumed far more shops in the market than this.