One of the leading shopping malls in Abuja, NEXT Cash and Carry supermarket, has been gutted by fire, destroying properties estimated to run into billions of Naira.
The inferno at supermarket in the Jahi area of Abuja was caused by an electrical surge, a worker at the supermarket said.
The worker who pleaded anonymity said the fire started from the first floor of the building around 8am on Sunday morning.
This is as he accused the fire service of getting to the scene late.
He said, “The fire started around 8am. We called the fire service but the firefighters did not arrive on time. We made attempt to put out the fire but we couldn’t find the key to the fire truck stationed at the supermarket. The fire won’t have escalated if they had arrived on time. The fire was caused by an electrical surge.”
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The FCT Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Ben Igwe, said the police were there to ensure the place is adequately secured.
He added that the place was barricaded to discourage hoodlums from looting the store.
The FCT fire service, Federal Fire Service, the Fire unit of the Nigerian Navy and Guards brigade, and fire trucks from Julius Berger are still on the ground trying to quench the fire as of the time of filing this report.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vice Presidential candidate in 2019 and former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, is believed to have stake in the Supermarket.