Goods and property worth millions of Naira were razed yesterday at a popular market, Oja Agbe in Moniya, Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital city.
Also, the Trademore Estate market, Lugbe, Abuja was also on fire yesterday.
The Ibadan incident, it was gathered, started about midnight while that of Abuja started at 4 am. In the former it engulfed about 17 shops, containers and adjoining buildings.
The source of the inferno was traced to an electrical fault.
Babaloja of Moniya Garage, Mr Kolawole Balogun said he was alerted of the incident about 12:30am.
Balogun said: “I moved to the scene of the incident immediately I received a phone call. I can confirm to you that goods and property worth millions have been lost to the incident.’’
Chairman of the Garage, Mr Saliu Bello said: “Apart from goods, cash worth millions of naira were also destroyed. You know some market men and women, sometimes, kept their money in the shops while going home.”
Some of the victims, Yetunde Musa, Ajetunmobi Idowu, Olaide Badmus, Balogun Sulaimon, and Ajetunmobi Kolawole appealed to the government to come to their aid.
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General Manager, Oyo State Fire Services, Akinyemi Akinyinka said: “The fire incident was reported to the agency at 00:27hours and Mr Adelola said their shops are on fire at Moniya Garage, Oja Agbe, Ibadan.
“Immediately, the personnel of this agency led by ACFS Oyedeji were deployed to the scene of the incident. On getting to the address, it was discovered that rows of shops and container shops we met were on fire.
“Properties worth millions of naira were destroyed and billions of properties were saved by the agency personnel. No life was lost.
“The remote cause of the fire incident was traced to plugging of electrical appliances unattended to.” In the Abuja market, it was learnt, the fire started after the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company restored power. A resident, Tosin Adeleke, said: “It is sad. We are not certain about the cause of the fire, but an electrical fault cannot be ruled out.
“Efforts were made to contact both the Federal Fire Service and the Federal Capital Territory Fire Service, but the situation was intense.”
Adeleke added that residents eventually reached out to the fire service team at Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), who arrived at the scene about 5 am battled the blaze for two hours, before personnel from the Federal Fire Service stations at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Sauka extinguished the fire.
Another resident, Mary Moses, said: “I was alerted at 4 am, and by then the fire had already spread. We couldn’t immediately figure out the cause, but we think it might have been an electrical issue.”
Attempts by residents to contact the Federal Fire Service (FFS) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCTA) Fire Service initially went unanswered.
As of the time of filing this report, the full extent of the damage and the value of goods lost in the blaze remain unclear.
Head of NEMA, Abuja Operation Office, Justin Owazuruonye, who led other officials to the scene of the inferno, said: “At 04:50 hours this morning, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) received a distress call reporting a fire at the Trademore Estate, Lugbe.
“The agency immediately activated the Fire Service and Nigerian Police that responded promptly to the incident. “The fire, which primarily affected the food market section of the estate, has been brought under control, preventing it from spreading to nearby residential buildings. Fortunately, no life was lost in the incident. However, foodstuffs that can be estimated of huge value were lost to the incident. Director General NEMA Mrs Zubaida Umar commended the rescue team members for their timely response to the incident. The cause and extent of the fire is being investigated by the relevant authorities.”
It would be recalled that in June, the estate experienced significant flooding, which affected over 100 homes.