Fire destroys property worth millions at Benue rice mill market

A fire outbreak has destroyed properties worth millions of naira at the popular rice mill market in Wurukum, near the River Benue bridge in Makurdi.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Monday.

Firefighters arrived quickly and were able to stop the fire from spreading to other shops.

However, several shops were affected, with processed and unprocessed rice, milling machines, and other goods completely burnt.

One of the victims, Mercy Hanmaikyur, said she opened her shop in December and lost about N10 million in the fire.

“I opened this shop last December after investing about N10 million. I had three machines—a de-stoning machine, a rice polishing machine—and many bags of processed and unprocessed rice. Everything was burnt,” she said.

Another victim, Iorwa Jeremiah, also shared his loss. He said the fire happened at a time when no one could save anything from his shop.

“I got a call in the early hours of today. By the time I arrived, I saw other shop owners with firefighters who were trying to put out the fire. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done,” Jeremiah said.

The Chairman of the Wurukum rice mill market, Terva Igyar, confirmed that a few shops were burnt, along with a motorcycle, about six milling machines and several bags of rice.

Igyar added that he had spoken to officials of Makurdi Local Government and other stakeholders, who promised to visit the market to assess the damage before estimating the total loss.

The traders ruled out electricity as the cause of the fire, saying their shops were not connected to any power supply.

The victims have appealed to Governor Hyacinth Alia for assistance to help them recover from the loss.