Fire razes four shops at Ekpoma

A midnight fire has razed four shops at a market in Ekpoma, headquarters of Esan West local government area.

The fire could not be put out because there are no fire service station in the locality.

Men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps station in the area only helped to protect some items rescued from other shops in the building.

Items burnt included foodstuffs, computers and other household items.

An official of NSCDC who led the rescue operation, Godwin Odameh said his men could only ensure that the rescued goods were not looted.

He said the fire has already spread to the four shops before they got to the scene.

Some of the victims said they were yet to ascertain what caused the fire because there was no electricity in the area.