Properties worth millions of naira have been destroyed by late-night fire outbreak at the Kofar Wanbai Market in Kano State.
The incident which occurred at about 9:43pm on Friday at the Babban Layi, Yan Robobi section of the market, razed six houses, multiple shops, and storage facilities.
The Kano State Fire Service confirmed the incident in a statement released on Saturday by its Public Relations Officer, Saminu Abdullahi.
Abdullahi disclosed that the agency received a distress call from a Principal Fire Superintendent, Usman Idris Fagge, prompting the rapid deployment of firefighting teams from the state headquarters and operational stations at Rijiyar Zaki, Sabon Gari, Government House, and Bompai.
“Upon arrival, they discovered that approximately six houses, identified as Gidan Alhaji Sani, Gidan Sani Muhammad, Gidan Alhaji Kwa Kwa, Gidan Alhaji Shafi’u and Gidan Alhaji Sulaiman, were affected by the fire,” the statement read.
It was gathered that the affected structure — a two-storey building measuring approximately 120 by 125 feet — was utilised as plastic shops and storage facilities.
The fire reportedly broke out on the upper floor before engulfing two shops on the ground floor, two on the first floor, alongside six permanent stores and four temporary units on the top level.
Firefighters, however, managed to contain the inferno and prevented it from spreading to adjacent sections of the commercial hub.
Preliminary investigations by the fire service traced the cause of the outbreak to a faulty solar system installation.
Reacting to the incident, the Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Alhaji Sani Anas, urged traders and residents to strictly adhere to safety protocols, install smoke detectors, and maintain functional fire extinguishers across commercial and residential properties.
