24th July, 2017
Gov. Umaru Al-Makura of Nasarawa State has donated N10 million to the victims of the fire at Masaka market in Karu Local Government Area on Sunday.
Al-Makura made the donation on Monday when he visited the market to assess the situation and commiserate with the traders whose property were destroyed by the fire outbreak.
He said that the money was to cushion the effect of the devastation on the victims and prayed for the repose of one of the traders, who reportedly died due to trauma over the disaster.
The governor said that shops would also be allocated to the victims at the Karu International Market to enable them to continue their businesses.
Al-Makura, who said he was in London to visit President Muhammdu Buhari when he received news of the disaster, assured the traders that government would assist them in every possible way to overcome the setback.
He said the government would fence the burnt market and set up a market board for the proper management of all markets across the state.
The Masaka market caught fire at about 1:30 am. on Sunday, affecting more than 2,000 shops with property worth millions of Naira destroyed.
Mr Sunday Danladi, chairman of the traders’ association, had told newsmen that the cause of the fire was unknown, adding that investigation had begun to unravel the source.
He said that areas most affected by the fire were the cosmetics, textile and food stuff sections of the market.
He appealed to the state government to establish a fire station in the market to avert future occurrence.