Traders in Plateau are now counting huge losses following the outbreak of strange fires that razed no fewer than three yam markets in different locations in the state. The traders, whose major means of livelihood have been reduced to ashes in the affected markets, have now been thrown into economic woes, not knowing what next step to take to survive.
It all started at Pangkai and Kalong Yil communities where many yam barns were razed at night after most of the owners had gone home for the day. The fire spread to other farming communities where farmers warehouse their produce in huts built with dry grasses. Like a bad dream, the inferno in the two communities did not stop there. While those who lost their wares were lamenting their fate, information filtered rapidly to them that the Namu Central Yam market in Qua’an Pan, another local government area in the zone, had been gutted by fire destroying hundreds of thousands of yam tubers and other valuables worth millions of naira as some of the traders were in church worshipping on Sunday morning.
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That incident spelled a major disaster for the traders as that particular yam market is one of the main centers for selling yams to Nigerians and foreigners alike in the state and has remained a rallying point for food supplies in the state. A major yam distributor in Pangkai in Mikang Local Government Area, Emmanuel Ntiem, whose barn was razed by the inferno, said he could not mobilize from his residence to the market to salvage anything by the time the information got to him in the night that his barn was on fire. Ntiem said: “I was preparing to go to bed at about 9.00 pm when I got a call that my yam barn was on fire in Pangkai, a nearby hamlet to Garkawa where I live. Although sympathizers tried to put out the fire with sand as the community is suffering from chronic water problems, by the time the fire was out, everything stored in that barn had been reduced to ashes.
Throughout that night, I could not sleep because my entire investment had gone. By the time I got to the hamlet very early the next day, I could not recollect exactly what I did because I am yet to recover from the magnitude of the loss. The yams for sale, those stored for us to eat and the seedlings for this year’s farming season were all gone. As I speak, I don’t know where to start from. I am appealing for help from all people of goodwill so that I can bounce back on my feet.” Another victim, Monday Bali, described the unfortunate development as ‘the worst moment’ for his colleagues and appealed to public-spirited individuals to come to their aid as some of the affected traders had been hospitalized as a result of depression arising from their heavy financial losses.
According to his estimates, no fewer than 200 traders were affected by the inferno, which also destroyed at least 1,000 thatched yam barns. “I appeal to government at all levels to assist us because this devastation is huge; this is our only means of livelihood being wiped out and we have no other business apart from sales of yam,” he said. Another victim, Kabiru Umar, blamed the inferno on the dry grasses used in shading the tubers of yam, adding that the fire could not be controlled due to the rising hot temperatures of the dry season.
“We want the government to help us, we the poor have been helping them when they are in need of votes. We are now in need of help; government should please help us to come out of this problem,” he said. Langkuk Benjamin, another victim also appealed for assistance saying: “Millions of Naira have been lost, some were borrowed with interest.” The Chairman of the LGA, Abdulmalik Haruna, could not be reached at the time of this report, but the senator representing Plateau South Senatorial zone, Professor Nora Dadu’ut commiserated with the entire community especially victims of the fire incident saying she was saddened by the development.
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She said: “I commiserate with the entire people of Namu over this sad incident. Since I heard of this incident, I have not been my usual self, I feel very sad. I pray to God to revive the spirit of those affected by this incident. May God give them the grace to accept the loss and continue the struggle.”
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