No beneath than 300 shops were destroyed in a blaze blow that occurred in the Ladipo axle market, Orile-Iganmu breadth of Lagos State on Wednesday.
The agent for the Lagos State Blaze Service, Amodu Shakiru, accepted this to Findwhosabi in an absolute interview.
Our correspondents who visited the arena of the blaze blow aggregate that the shops which were abiding in curve of 75 shops each, had bristles curve with four of the curve destroyed by the fire.
Many of the boutique owners were apparent black the admeasurement of the accident acquired by the blaze which started at midnight Wednesday afore actuality quelled through a accumulated accomplishment of the admiral of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and men of the Lagos Blaze Service.
According to Shakiru, the blaze was not acquired by an electrical billow as speculated because there was no ability accumulation to the bazaar hours afore the adventure and hours afterwards it had commenced.
He said, “There are bristles curve of shops in the market, four of the curve were destroyed by the fire. Anniversary of the curve independent an boilerplate of 75 shops which sum the absolute shops afflicted to 300. There are added adapter shops which numbers cannot be ascertained.
“Although we are yet to ascertain the account of the fire, it can’t be abhorrent on an electricity billow because there was no ability accumulation to the bazaar hours afore the blaze bankrupt out and hours afterwards it. Aloof like best blaze incidents, I anticipate it will be a case of apathy on the allotment of the boutique owners but we are administering our analysis to break the account of the fire.”
Shakiru appear added that efforts were still in top accessory to ensure an accretion of the blaze due to the anarchic attributes of appurtenances actuality awash in the market.
“We are still accomplishing aggregate all-important to abbreviate added accretion of the blaze because the items that are afflicted are combustible. You apperceive that axle is a combustible material. We accept amorphous aborticide of the bits while ensuring that the blaze did not billow again,” he said.
Meanwhile, the traders while black the accident that the blaze had acquired them bidding abhorrence that the Lagos State Government may booty over the acreage afterwards the incident.
A trader, who articular himself as Rasheed, claimed that billions of naira had been absent due to the fire.
“One affair we cannot ascertain is how the blaze started. All I apperceive is that the blaze started about 12:30am. Bodies were not accustomed to beddy-bye in the bazaar so I admiration what happened and how the blaze started.
“Each copse amount N1,800 and some of them amount N2,500, so billions accept been absent in this fire. The saddest affair is that some bodies aloof restocked their shops bygone (Tuesday) and now all their backdrop accept been lost,” he said.
Another banker who pleaded anonymity said abounding traders would acknowledgment to abjection abacus that there were fears that the government ability booty over the market.
“These days, planks are big-ticket so you can acquaint that a lot of bodies may go aback to penury. The acceptable affair is that lives were not absent at all. The above catechism is what is the bounded government accomplishing about it? They aloof brought bodies that will allay the fire. I achievement they will absolutely advice us because we accept absent a lot.
“We accept bristles curve of shops actuality and four curve got destroyed. The aching allotment is that our machines got burnt too. If we appetite to acquirement those machines, we will charge millions of naira to do that and you apperceive how Nigeria can be already a abode gets burnt; it becomes the acreage of the government. I apperceive of a ancestors that had three shops in this bazaar and all of them got burnt. You can see bodies arrant because some bodies took loans to acquirement these goods,” he concluded.
Efforts to get the acknowledgment of the Director General of LASEMA, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, in adjustment to ascertain the account of the accident acquired by the blaze accepted bootless as he was yet to acknowledge to calls fabricated to his band as of the time of filing this report.