Benue: Fresh facts emerge over fire outbreak in Makurdi market

Fresh facts have emerged over the reported fire outbreak in High Level Market in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
Report had it that a section of the market was engulfed by inferno last Saturday.
Reacting to the development, Uyina Matthew, the Permanent Secretary Bureau of Internal Affairs and Special Services, said the fire was put out by men of the Benue State Fire & Rescue Services.
Uyina, in a Facebook post, added that his comment became necessary to correct the report in a section of the media that firefighters were not on ground when the fire broke out.

He wrote, “It’s true that a fire broke out at high level market late Saturday night 19/03/2022 and within thirty minutes of the incident & less than fifteen minutes after the incident was reported men of the Benue State Fire & Rescue services were at the scene and successfully combated the inferno thereby saving part of the market. It’s therefore totally false that men of the Fire Service did not attend this fire call.

“I wish to put on record that between Friday 18/03/2022 & yesterday alone, five fire incidents were reported to the Directorate of Fire & Rescue Service of the Bureau of Internal Affairs and Special Services, Makurdi, Benue State and they were all successfully brought under control.

“It’s important to note, however, that while the department might be doing its best, we wish to advise that there is a need to do everything humanly possible to avoid fire outbreaks. This is because fire incidents are very difficult to combat, even with the best fire fighting technology anywhere in the world.”