A rice mill located in the Wurukum area of Makurdi, Bayelsa state was on Sunday gutted by fire with property worth millions of naira destroyed.

New Telegraph who visited the scene of the incident observed that two shops including processing machines, processed rice and other items were burnt down.

The fire incident occured at about 10 pm when the traders had closed before men of the state fire service swiftly intervened to put out the inferno to prevent it from spreading to other nearby shops.

One of the affected shop owners, Hanmaikyur Mercy, who was visibly worried about her burnt shop, said she started the business in December 2023 with about N10 million and wondered how she could start over again with the current economic situation.

Hanmaikyur called on the state Governor Hyacinth Alia to help her restart her business, stressing that her three machines, de-stoning machines, polishing and others are gone including bags of rice.

Another trader, Iorwa Jeremiah, who described the situation as unfortunate, said not a single item, not even a bag of rice was left in their shop as at the time they got there when they were called that fire had engulfed their shop.

“We only met fire service on the ground put out the fire, that is just what we could see and this morning we came to see the shop, everything gone.

“We are calling on the state government to help restore our business no matter how small.”

The Chairman of the Wurukum rice mill market, Terver Igyar, stated that his two shops were burnt, including a motorcycle, six milling machines, bags of rice and other items.

He said he was in touch with the Makurdi Local Government Chairman and the other stakeholders in the development who promised to visit the market for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.

The traders ruled out the possibility of electricity surge as the main cause of the fire incident stating that their shops were not connected to any electricity supply.