A fire broke out at Eda Plaza, a building materials market across from the Chida Hotel in Jabi, Abuja, destroying stores and merchandise purportedly valued at millions of naira.
Video footage released by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) showed distressed shopkeepers scrambling to salvage inventory from the burning market.
According to an eyewitness interviewed by NTA, the alarm was raised at approximately 3:00 a.m. on Sunday when his brother-in-law, who owns two shops and a storage space in the plaza, received an urgent phone call from a fellow trader reporting the blaze.
No casualties were reported in connection with the incident.
The eyewitness said, “We were at home this morning, as early as 3 am, and my brother-in-law received a call from one of his colleagues here in the plaza that the plaza was on fire. So we had to rush down there. On getting here, we discovered that the situation was so bad.”
He added that by the time they arrived at the scene, the fire had already spread extensively, leaving only one of his brother-in-law’s two shops intact.
“In this plaza, my brother-in-law had two shops and a packing store. Unfortunately, only one of the shops was saved. The other shop and the packing store were totally damaged by the fire,” he added.
The eyewitness lamented the heavy loss, noting that a portion of the destroyed roofing materials had been newly installed just the night before the incident, and estimated the total value of the damaged goods to exceed ₦20 million.
As of the time of publication, the Federal Capital Territory Fire Service has not responded to inquiries regarding the incident.
However, an official from the Julius Berger fire department, which also deployed personnel to the scene, confirmed that the blaze has been brought fully under control.
Backstory…
Fires have repeatedly devastated markets across the Federal Capital Territory, with traders often losing entire businesses within hours and raising questions about fire prevention, electrical safety and the ability of emergency agencies to reach crowded commercial areas quickly.
One of the most notorious examples was the Dei-Dei Building Materials Market, one of Abuja’s largest hubs for building supplies. The market has experienced several fire outbreaks over the years, including a major 2020 inferno that destroyed shops and goods worth millions of naira. Traders subsequently complained about inadequate firefighting infrastructure and difficulties accessing the market during emergencies.
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