No fewer than five shops were at the weekend destroyed by fire which gutted the commercial area of the 2 Amphibious Brigade, Nigerian Army, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
This was even as the authorities of Nigerian Army gave quit notice to civilians living in the barracks as a result of rising cases of crime and other social vices.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the fire which started at around 9:00 am on Saturday morning consumed about five shops before fire fighters from the Rivers State Fire Service were able to put it off.
Speaking to newsmen, army spokesman, Major Ahmad Mansur Dikko, who confirmed the fire outbreak, said that investigation was ongoing to unravel the cause of the fire and added that? “with the large number of? civilian population parking their belongings to leave the barrack, anything could have started the fire.”
A source at the Mammy market, who did not want his name in print told LEADERSHIP that some hoodlums who wanted to take advantage of the situation to loot allegedly started the fire.
Speaking on the quit notice given to civilians, the commander of 2 Amphibious Brigade, Brigadier General Yusuf Tukur Buratai said that the decision to evacuate all civilians from the barrack was for the security and safety of the barrack considering the current security situation in the country.
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