Shop owners at Eda Plaza in Jabi, Abuja, lost millions of naira worth of stock after a fire tore through the building materials market in the early hours of the morning. Video footage from the Nigerian Television Authority showed traders scrambling to pull goods from burning stalls after an alarm was raised around 3:00am.
An eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity said the blaze started before dawn when his brother-in-law received an urgent call from a colleague at the plaza. By the time they arrived, the fire had spread through multiple shops, leaving only one of the man’s two retail units intact. His other shop and a packing store were completely destroyed.
The source estimated losses in roofing materials alone at more than N20 million, and said some of the stock had been delivered the night before the incident. The eyewitness also confirmed there were no casualties reported among traders or visitors at the site.
NTA footage captured the chaotic effort to salvage goods as flames consumed sections of the plaza opposite Chida Hotel. The market specialises in building supplies, a sector where concentrated inventory losses can quickly translate into large financial hits for small merchants.
At the time this report was filed the Federal Capital Territory Fire Service had not issued a statement on the cause of the blaze or the scale of damage. Traders and local observers will be awaiting an official response and any investigation into the origin of the fire, and affected businesses face the immediate task of assessing losses and recovering from the setback.
