An early morning fire on Sunday destroyed seven shops and an undisclosed quantity of goods along Amen Owie Street, opposite Delano Hotels, off Second Ugbor Road, Abuja Quarters, in Benin City, Edo State.

The fire reportedly broke out around 3am on Sunday, leaving shop owners with significant losses. No life was lost in the incident.

Some of the affected shop owners, who confirmed the incident in interviews with our correspondent, said they were alerted by neighbours who called them after the fire started.

They attributed the incident to a shop owner who allegedly left an electrical appliance switched on after closing late for the day.

The fire was also said to have started shortly after the Benin Electricity Distribution Company restored power to the area. However, the cause of the incident has yet to be officially established.

One of the shop owners, who lamented the loss, said, “I got a call from one of the residents that the stores were on fire. I had to be driven there to see what happened. We lost goods and our sources of livelihood.”

It was gathered that residents of the neighbourhood rushed to the scene, broke down the doors of some shops and evacuated valuables in an effort to minimise losses.

Their intervention reportedly helped prevent the fire from spreading to other parts of the neighbourhood, although seven shops were affected.

The shop owners also said efforts to get the Edo State Fire Service to the scene proved difficult because of the time the incident occurred.

The quantity and value of the goods destroyed in the fire have yet to be determined.