On Wednesday morning, a fire severely damaged multiple shops close to the General Post Office on Ibokwu Street, near Old Market Road, in Onitsha, a major commercial area in Anambra State. The blaze reportedly caused millions of naira in losses to goods, property, and equipment, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Mrs. Chidimma Ike, an eyewitness and resident of one of the impacted buildings, stated that the fire began in one of the shops. She remembered, “The fire started from one of the shops early this morning.” We unexpectedly saw dense smoke, and before we realized what was going on, the fire started to spread quickly. “Many of the traders and shop owners weren’t at their shops today since a lot of them were home for Christmas. “While the fire blazed, multiple calls were made to the fire service, but it was the locals and bystanders who stepped in to save items and fight the fire for several hours.” Mr. Chinedu Nnamdi, one of the affected shop owners who lives nearby, stated that he first noticed the smoke from afar and thought it was someone burning trash since the shops were shut for the Christmas holiday. “I didn’t realize the smoke was coming from a fire that was consuming our shops until my neighbors called me about it,” Nnamdi mentioned.
