by Christiana Gokyo, Jos
Over N70 million of property has been destroyed at the early hours of Wednesday, in Gombe State, following a fire outbreak in Gombe Old Market, allegedly suspected to have been caused by a gang of armed robbers.
Conscience Triumph gathered that, the incident occurred at about 12:00 am along the Tailoring Line, engulfing around 20 shops and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, and the property lost, worth millions of naira were stolen from the affected tailors’ shops.
One of the affected shop owners, Aminu Abdulrahman, shared his experience, recounting how he received a distress phone call at 1:00am, informing him of the inferno, and he lost ten sewing machines and various other valuables estimated at 2.5 million naira.
Another shop owner, Sani Idris, described the incident with deep sadness, saying that, he equally received a phone call around 1:00 am, alerting him to the act of arson committed by the suspected robbers.
According to him, he lost five sewing machines, weavings machines and other materials, with an estimated value of N800,000, and appealed to the government and well-to-do individuals to extend a helping hand to the affected shop owners during this challenging time.
Speaking on the incident, Chairman of the Gombe State Tailoring Association Old Market Branch, Hon. Abu Safwan Muhammad Tukur, expressed shock and grief, while emphasizing that their members had lost everything, including sewing machines and valuable merchandise, causing estimated losses that may exceed N70 million.
He called on the Gombe State Emergency Management Agency to swiftly intervene and provide assistance to the affected shop owners.
When contacted, the Gombe State Director of the State Emergency Management Agency, Malam Muhammad Garba, assured the public that the government is making every effort possible to help those affected.
According to him, the agency is working towards providing relief materials that will alleviate the hardship faced by the affected shop owners during this difficult time.
The affected shop owners are praying and hoping that government’s intervention and the support of well-wishers will help them recover and rebuild their businesses.
