Akim police barracks saved as fire guts timber market

A midnight inferno that raged for implicit six hours has destroyed the Akim timber marketplace successful Calabar, consuming ample quantities of timber and different goods, with full losses yet to beryllium afloat determined.

The fire, which broke retired precocious connected March 27, 2026, threatened to dispersed to the adjacent Akim Police Barracks but was successfully contained done the combined efforts of constabulary unit and exigency responders.

In a connection signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eitokpah Sunday Akata, the bid commended the swift and coordinated effect that prevented the blaze from engulfing the barracks.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Rashid Afegbua, who personally led the operation, oversaw efforts that brought the occurrence nether control.

The inferno was yet extinguished astatine astir 1:55 a.m. connected March 28, 2026, implicit six hours later.

According to the statement, the occurrence started astatine astir 8:30 p.m. wrong the timber marketplace located beside the constabulary barracks, with preliminary findings pointing to a spark from nationalist powerfulness proviso arsenic the apt cause.

“Upon receipt of the report, a swift and coordinated effect was initiated. Police personnel, including patrol teams and tactical units, were instantly deployed to the scene,” the connection said.

Firefighters from the Cross River State Fire Service, supported by the University of Calabar Fire...