It was tears and gnashing of teeth, Saturday morning, at Owode market in Offa, Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, as traders saw the ruins of their property worth several million of naira destroyed by an early morning fire.

Vanguard gathered that the fire, said to have started around 1:30 a.m., reportedly razed over 50 percent of the market.

The inferno, according to sources, was caused by power surge from an electric pole, which the traders were said to have complained about to electricity officials. But they failed to rectify it.

However, the spark occurred again in the midnight, which started the fire that burnt shops and items in them to ashes.

Vanguard also gathered that fire service officials battled hard to extinguish the raging fire, but failed as they could not go inside the market due to lack of access road.