No fewer than 20 shops at the Ika-ka Oqua Market, popularly called Marian market in Calabar, were razed by fire on Monday.
The inferno was reportedly caused by a power surge from one of the high tension wires which sparked off fire and subsequently gutted some shops.
It was discovered that most shops at A-line numbering about 20 and some kiosks were affected by the fire outbreak.
One of the victims, Mrs Imagining Okon, said: “I have lost all my goods worth over N5 million to the inferno. I also lost about about N1.5 million l left in the shop since bank was not working.
“We made fruitless calls to fire service people and they couldn’t come on time because they said they don’t have the resources to put out the fire. This is bad year for those of us affected because we are all starting afresh.”
