A map showing Kaduna, a state in Nigeria’s north-west region.
Several shops at the popular Jos road auto spare parts market at the Oriapata area in Kaduna State have been gutted by fire.
Although the cause of the fire which began in the early hours of Friday is yet to be ascertained, traders and residents of the area told Channels Television that the fire started from one of the shops which also has some tenants inside the compound, and later spread to nearby shops.
The leadership of the Automobile Spare Parts Dealers Association said the fire outbreak has negatively affected the traders whose goods were lost in the inferno.
President of the Kaduna Automobile Spare parts Dealers Association, Cyprian Eneje, appealed to the Kaduna State Government to come to the aid of the victims to enable them to start a normal life.
Presently, Kaduna State and other parts of the northern region are experiencing severe harmattan weather.
During this period, incidents of fire outbreak usually occur either at the markets or in the homes
The COVID-19 Enforcement Team in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has shut down some markets in the nation’s capital.
Among the places visited and closed down by the enforcement team on Tuesday included the UTC Area 10 Market and the Wuse Market in Abuja.
The spokesperson for the task force, Mr Attah Ikharo, stated that the markets were shut for violating the measures put in place by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
He explained that the team would later meet with the union leaders at the markets, adding that the exercise was carried out in line with the directive of the President on the enforcement of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Health Protection Regulations 2021.
The regulations were made by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday last week at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The nine-page document, which was published by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), comprised six parts.
They include restrictions on gatherings, operations of public places, mandatory compliance with treatment protocols, offences and penalties, enforcement and application, as well as interpretation and citation.
In the document, President Buhari explained that the regulations were made in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Section 4 of the Quarantine Act, Cap. Q2 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2010 and all other powers enabling him in that behalf.
He also noted that he had considered the urgent need to protect the health and wellbeing of Nigerians in the face of the widespread and rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the country.
See the breakdown of confirmed cases of COVID-19 according to states below:
A combination of photos of scenes from the Potiskum Central Market in Yobe State gutted by fire on December 28, 2020.
An early morning fire outbreak has destroyed 36 shops and stalls at Potiskum Central Market in Yobe State, north-east Nigeria.
The cause of the inferno which broke out on Monday has yet to be ascertained and it was said to have lasted about two and a half hours.
In an interview with Channels Television, the Chairman of the United Marketers’ Association at the market disclosed that the fire started around 2:30am and could not be put out until 5am.
An eyewitness explained that there was a power outage at the time when the incident happened.
Officials of the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had visited the scene to ascertain the level of destruction caused by the fire.
The state governor, Mai Mala Buni, in a statement by his media aide commiserated with the victims of the inferno.
He asked firefighters in the state to be proactive in discharging their duties, especially during the harmattan season.
Governor Buni also directed SEMA to provide immediate support to the victims as they take stock of the damages.
See more photos below:
A raging fire at the Potiskum Central Market in Yobe State on December 28, 2020.
A part of the Potiskum Central Market in Yobe State gutted by fire on December 28, 2020.
SEMA officials at the Potiskum Central Market in Yobe State on December 28, 2020.
Traders at the Marian market in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital are counting their losses following a fire disaster that occurred at about 8:00 pm on Friday, destroying several shops stocked with goods.
Some eyewitnesses told Channels Television that, while the number of shops destroyed cannot be ascertained at the moment, the losses could be running into millions.
According to them, the inferno was a result of high voltage power which resulted in sparks and the eventual fire which was out of control.
Shop owners have, therefore, called on both the Federal and State government and well meaning Nigerians to come to their aid.
The Katsina State government has ordered the shutdown of three more major weekly markets in the state.
The Secretary to the State Government, Mustapha Inuwa, announced this in a statement dated May 3, 2020.
Markets affected by the government’s directive are Garkin Daura, Dutsi, and Kayawa.
The directive was issued following the growing concerns by the state government and other stakeholders about the increase in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Katsina.
According to Inuwa, the shutdown order which starts with immediate effect is part of the stringent measures taken to curb the spread of coronavirus in the state.
He urged the residents to remain law-abiding, saying the security agencies have been directed to ensure total compliance with the directive.
Traders at Dugbe Alawo area in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital were thrown into panic on Wednesday afternoon, following a fire outbreak in the area.
According to the traders, the fire started around 1.20 p.m. and engulfed a high-rise building located at Lebanon road.
Rows of shops close to the building were not left out as they were also affected by the fire. Items like household goods, clothes and electronics being sold by the traders were destroyed in the fire.
Although, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, men of the fire service from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the state fire service were later seen at the scene frantically battling the fire.
As at the time of this report, no life was reported lost in the inferno.
The traders however lamented that valuable goods which cannot be quantified yet were destroyed in the fire outbreak.
An Investor (not shown) looks at screens showing stock market movements at a securities company in Beijing on August 26, 2019. Asian equity markets tanked and the yuan hit an 11-year low Monday after US President Donald Trump ramped up his trade war with China by hiking tariffs on more than half-a-trillion dollars worth of imports. WANG Zhao / AFP.
Asia markets fell Monday with investors cautious on news of an international deal to shore up oil prices and tentative signs of progress in efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
OPEC producers dominated by Saudi Arabia and allies led by Russia thrashed out a compromise deal on Sunday to cut production by nearly 10 million barrels per day from May.
Oil futures surged in early Asian trade, with WTI climbing nearly eight percent and Brent up five percent before both benchmarks pared their gains in afternoon trade.
The rally followed months of slumping prices after the COVID-19 outbreak sapped demand as countries around the world put their populations under lockdown.
A Saudi-Russian price war also saw the ramping up of production as both countries bid to hold on to market share and undercut US shale producers.
OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo called the cuts “historic” in size but analysts said the measures may not go far enough to secure a long-term rebound.
“There remain concerns the agreement could be a day late and a ‘barrel short’ to prevent a decline in prices in the coming weeks as storage capacity brims,” said AxiCorp chief market strategist Stephen Innes.
Investors are waiting for signs that the world is winning the battle against the disease, which has now infected more than 1.8 million people and claimed more than 112,500 lives globally.
The weekend saw glimmers of hope that the crisis may have peaked in some of the hardest-hit countries.
Italy recorded its lowest death toll in three weeks on Easter Sunday and fatalities fell in France, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson left hospital praising National Health Service staff for having “saved my life, no question”.
Washington’s top health advisor Anthony Fauci meanwhile said the United States could be ready to start gradually reopening for business from next month, despite the country leading the world in both confirmed cases and deaths.
“The most critical question for the economic outlook is whether, and how quickly, the coronavirus outbreak will decrease,” said Innes.
“Politicians need to walk a fine line making sure that shutdown activity doesn’t cause permanent and lasting damage to their domestic economies,” he said.
Tokyo closed 2.3 percent lower on the back of a stronger yen and investor disappointment over a lack of asset-buying from the Bank of Japan.
Seoul dropped 1.9 percent, Shanghai finished down 0.5 percent and Singapore fell 0.4 percent, while Hong Kong, Sydney and Wellington were closed for a public holiday.
Earnings season
More whirlwind sessions are likely this week, with new economic data to reveal the extent of the economic havoc unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic on the world’s top two economies.
The US kicks off its quarterly earnings season from Tuesday with reports from major banks.
Analysts are predicting S&P 500 companies will report a drop in profits ranging from six to 15 percent, with worse declines in the second quarter.
China will release balance of trade figures on Tuesday, while forecasters expect a quarterly GDP drop of 6.2 percent when economic growth data is published on Friday.
“With so much hope hoisted onto China’s shoulders to lead the world out of the COVID-19 recession, both data points are likely to cause strong market reactions,” said OANDA’s Jeffrey Halley.
China has largely brought the disease under control since it first emerged in the city of Wuhan late last year, following drastic measures that shuttered much of the economy and cordoned off tens of millions of people at the epicentre of the outbreak.
But the country faces a fresh battle against imported cases from overseas, mostly Chinese nationals returning home.
– Key figures around 0750 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.3 percent at 19,043.40 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 2,783.05 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: Closed for a public holiday
London – FTSE 100: Closed for a public holiday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0951 from $1.0937
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 107.85 from 108.47
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2521 from $1.2455
Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.46 pence from 87.80
Brent Crude: UP 2.0 percent at $32.12 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.9 percent at $23.43 per barrel
New York – Dow: UP 1.2 percent at 23,719.37 (close).
Over 200 tents and properties worth millions of naira were razed on Tuesday after a wildfire gutted some parts of the popular Gujungu market in Jigawa State, northwest Nigeria.
The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) Mr Yusuf Sani Babura, confirmed the incident to Channels Television saying that the cause of the outbreak is yet to be ascertained.
According to him, however, the incident may have been linked to the activities of the traders around the market especially those using fire to roast fish and other related businesses.
The chairman of the market, Alhaji Salisu Dan’azumi, lamenting over the incident, noted that property worth over N10 million was destroyed before the fire could be put out.
Traders work in the S&P options pit near the close of trading on the Cboe Global Markets trading floor on January 31, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP
Asian and European markets mostly fell Monday with investors worried over the impact of China’s coronavirus outbreak on the global economy.
At midday in Europe, London was down 0.2 percent, Paris dipped 0.4 percent, and Frankfurt slid 0.3 percent.
“Coronavirus concerns are weighing,” noted CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden.
“The deepening health crisis is chipping away at market confidence.
“In London, stocks that are connected to China are under pressure. Mining, energy as well as travel stocks are in the red.”
The virus has killed more than 900 people, infected more than 40,000 across mainland China and spread to more than two dozen countries in what has been termed a global health emergency.
It has also jolted major supply chains for everything from food and household supplies to car and electronics parts.
In Asia, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 0.6 percent down, while Hong Kong pared some losses, ending the day 0.6 percent lower after tanking 1.1 percent at the open.
Shanghai however rebounded after opening lower and ended with a 0.5-percent gain at the close.
Investors around the world have been watching with concern as China, the world’s second-largest economy, battles the novel coronavirus, which emerged at the end of last year in the central city of Wuhan.
The domestic impact was reflected in China’s inflation figures released Monday, which showed the highest rise in consumer prices in more than eight years, with food prices spiking more than 20 percent.
It has also disrupted the supply chains of major global firms such as Apple supplier Foxconn and auto giant Toyota. Key production facilities across China have been temporarily closed, with authorities imposing lockdowns and quarantine measures.
Oil slips lower
Depressed economic activity in China, the world’s largest importer and consumer of oil, has also hit energy markets.
A committee appointed by OPEC recommended additional output cuts on Saturday, citing the negative impact of the epidemic on economic activity.
Both main contracts, West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude, were down by around half a percentage point on Monday.
Separately, cryptocurrency bitcoin rallied to stand above $10,000 for the first time since September, though analysts did not attribute the move to anything in particular.
Over four hundred shops have been destroyed by fire at the Old Motor Spare Parts Market, popularly called Mgbuka Obosi, in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
During a visit by Channels Television crew on Saturday, a mammoth crowd gathered at the scene, lamenting the devastating incident, as well as questioning the competence of the market security guards.
They noted that the guards should have taken proactive measures that would have cut down the extent of damage in the market.
Although the cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained, the chairman of the market, Mr Samuel Ezeobodo, gave the report he got from the market security officials after 12 midnight.
According to him, a leaking gas cylinder inside one of the affected shops may be the cause of the fire from where it spread to other shops.
Ezeobodo disclosed the death of one of the market leaders, Mr Godwin Edozieuno, who died of shock upon hearing that his shop was one of those affected.
The damage is massive and some of the affected traders bemoaned their fate, saying they have been rendered helpless.
Amidst the tears of market men and women, one of the traders was lucky his shop was not gutted by fire despite its closeness to those razed.
The crisis in OPEC member Venezuela could impact the oil market balance, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told Al-Arabiya news channel on Monday.
“Of course, developments in Venezuela may have an impact on the (oil) markets … We are watching developments there and there could be an impact on the oil market balance,” Falih said.
