Onuminya Innocent in Sokoto
Following last week fire outbreak at the Sokoto central market, Sokoto State, which destroyed many shops and other property worth billions of naira, the federal government has sent a high-powered delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the president, Prof Abdullahi Gambari, to commiserate with the victims and the state government.
Speaking at the chamber of the Government House in Sokoto yesterday, Gambari said President Muhammadu Buhari was touched when he heard the unfortunate news of the fire outbreak.
According to Gambari, the president should have be in Sokoto in person but couldn’t make it due to official engagement, hence he mandated them to come and commiserate with the good people of the state.
He added that the president promised that the federal government would assist the state government to rebuild the market.
While responding, the state Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, thanked President Buhari for not abandoning them at the trying moment.
He told the delegation that the fire was caused by electrical faults from the transformer serving the market.
Tambuwal further disclosed that the market has 16,000 shops with 60 percent of the shops razed by the inferno
He pleaded with the federal government to assist the affected victims as the fire had affected their means of livelihood.
The delegation went into a closed-door meeting with the governor, and later paid a courtesy call on the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar.
Among those who accompanied the Chief of Staff to Sokoto included the former state Governor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko; Minister of Social Development, Disaster and Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq; her counterpart from the Police Affairs Ministry, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, and the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Ali Isa Pantami.
