25 shops and 2 houses were slashed in an
early morning Fire yesterday which razed a section of Sabo Market, Lagos
Ikorodu.
Properties worth millions of naira were also lost to the fire,
which also consumed a relaxation spot.
This incident which was attributed to a
power surge occurred at about 1.20am when the all traders had retired
from the day’s business.
Immediate response of the state
emergency responders was said to have prevented the fire from escalating.
A mild drama ensued at the scene as some
of the victims blamed their woes on the non-challant attitude of personnel of
Ikeja Distribution Company who supplies electricity to the market.
From the traders, the company didn’t respond
to a distress call until the situation almost got out of hand.
“Before going home on Tuesday,
there was high voltage which affected electrical appliances such as bulbs, fans
and sockets, a signal that havoc will soon be recorded but the distribution
company turned deaf ears to this.
‘According to the traders, The
electricity supplying unit office is very close to the market and we called
their emergency number asking them to switch off the panel leading to the
market but there was no response until the fire escalated and almost spread to
their office.
It was learned that 25 of the 80 shops
in that section of the market, two warehouses and a relaxation spot were
slashed by the fire.
Some of the shop owners were seen
counting their losses in pains when this reporter visited the scene.
In spite of the presence of law
enforcement agents, some scavengers were seen carting away some recovered items
immediately after the fire was put out by emergency responder.
According to an eye witness Austin Daniel, I was confused when I
got a distress call thinking it was a small matter and I rushed to the scene
with two buckets of water but it dawned on me that it was not a child’s play
when I got to the scene.
A
combined team of policemen from Sagamu Division, Nigeria Security, Civil
Defense Corps and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency were on ground at the
time of Vanguard’s visit.
One of the affected victims simply identified as Sunday,
who deals on provision, said he did not believe the fire could spread to his
shop.
“I thought I was coming to sympathize
with others but I was shocked to discover that my shops were among the affected
shops.
Another victim, Peter Mmahi, said he lost
items which monetary value he could not immediately quantify.
Efforts to reach the distribution
company proved abortive as the officials could not be reached at press time.
Lagos State Fire Services confirmed that
25 shops and two ware houses were affected, and urged traders to switch off all electrical
apparatus at the close of business daily.
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