The Timber section of Kenyatta market in Enugu was on Sunday night gutted by fire,  destroying over 50 shops and properties worth over N50 million. The equipment and goods lost to the inferno include some wood working machines, generators, doors, timbers, an eye witness told  Nigerian Pilot.

As at the time of filing this report, the cause of the inferno which started at about 10.30pm on the fateful day was yet to be ascertained.

But, many traders who spoke to Nigerian Pilot alleged occult manipulations by some of their colleagues as the cause of the incessant fire outbreaks in the market.

According to an eye witness, the intervention of men of the Enugu State Fire Service prevented the fire from razing down the entire market. The traders lamented that much havoc inflicted by the fire incident would have been avoided, if the state fire service had arrived early enough.

It was gathered that the fire fighting truck stationed at the office of state fire service located inside the market was not in order and could not be put to use when the fire erupted.

Mr Hyginus Onyia, a timber dealer in the market, whose stall was also gutted by fire, attributed the incessant fire disasters to the porous security in the market.

He appealed to the government to help them fence the market with a view to averting more disasters.

The chairman of Kenyatta Timber Market Enugu, Chief Levi Obi when contacted ,  said they were yet to ascertain the cause of the inferno. “I was shocked when I heard that the market was burnt. I don’t know if it is manmade or not, I don’t know the cause,” he said.

Reacting to the incident, the chairman of Enugu South Local Government Area, Mr. Nwabueze Okafor said he would set up a commission of inquiry to find out the cause of fire disasters in the market.

He expressed dismay over incessant fire incidents without much control at the Kenyatta market, despite the procurement and installation of modern fire fighting truck by the government in the market.

Nigerian Pilot recalls the same timber shade in Kenyatta market was gutted by fire in December 2010. There are also several other cases of fire incidents at the Timber section of the Kenyatta market in Enugu.