Police Officers’ Wives Shopping Mall in Benin gutted by fire

AGENE GODWIN , Benin

The Police Officers Wives Association, POWA, shopping mall located near the Zone 5 headquarters of the Nigerian Police in Benin city was in the early hours of Tuesday gutted by fire, which destroyed property worth millions of Naira.

It was gathered from residents of Adesuwa Grammar School road, in the Government Reserved Area in Benin City, the state capital said that the fire  started around 6.45pm on Monday evening and continued unchecked.

Mrs Elkanah Ayuba, the Acting Chairperson of the association in the state told newsmen that with the inferno which destroyed over 50 shops along with assorted goods, POWA has lost its means of generating income for the association.

‎She said, “We do not know the actual cause of the fire but we have reported to the Police. After the investigation we will be able to establish the actual cause of the fire”.

“One of my POWA members called me to inform me about the the fire incident. I am in shock right now as I speak to you. It is too early to start calling for help, we have to go round and access the level of damage in the plaza and evaluate how much goods were lost to the inferno before soliciting for help from the government and Nigerians,” Ayuba said.

She sympathised with the shop owners who lost their means of livelihood but gave thanks to God that no life was lost in the process.
A shop owner, Mr Joseph Akpan, who sells electronics items said “I left my three children in the shop and went to work in town.
It was other shop owners that rescued my children from the smoke that has already covered my shop; I lost  goods worth N5.6 million because I just stocked the shop last Friday”.

Mrs Bose Ajayi, a tailor who owned one of the burnt shop said the inferno destroyed her 5 sewing machines and people’s clothes.

According to her, “I closed early and just came now to open my shop but there is no shop to open. I am appealing to government and Nigerians to come and assist us. The destruction was massive and goods worth billions of naira were lost”.