The Sokoto Central market was on Monday morning gutted by fire which destroyed a section of the expansive market.
An eyewitness who spoke to journalists said that the fire started from a dumpsite very close to the market.
Reacting to the fire incident, the chairman of Motorcycles Marketers Association, Mallam Shehu Muhammad said that the fire destroyed a yet to be determined number of motorcycles.
“We cannot quantify the number of motorcycles burnt down by the fire now because the fire is still raging.
“But many people lost their shops along with their motorcycles because they could not come in time as the fire started around 6am.
“But men of the federal and state fire services are currently battling, but I know it will take some time before they can quench it all,” Muhammad lamented.
The Market has suffered similar fire outbreaks over the years as efforts to rebuild the congested market has always been resisted by traders who believe that the government could use the guise of rebuilding the market to reallocate their shops to cronies of the government.