Ladipo Market Traders Count Losses After Fire Destroys 300 Shops

Eko Hot Blog reports that traders at the Ladipo plank market, Orile-Iganmu area of Lagos State, are reeling from huge losses after a big fire destroyed their goods and property.

The fire, which started in the early hours of Wednesday, has been put out by the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service but not before it destroyed hundreds of shops within the market.

In an interview, the spokesperson for the Lagos Fire Service, Amodu Shakiru, told Punch that at least 300 shops were destroyed in the fire accident.

According to Punch, many of the shop owners were seen lamenting the extent of the damage caused by the fire.

Scene of the fire at the Ladipo plank market, Lagos State

The fire service’s spokesperson revealed that the fire was not caused by an electrical surge as speculated because there was no power supply to the market hours before the incident and hours after it had commenced.

“There are five lines of shops in the market, four of the lines were destroyed by the fire. Each of the lines contained an average of 75 shops which sum the total shops affected to 300. There are other attachment shops which numbers cannot be ascertained,” he said.

“Although we are yet to ascertain the cause of the fire, it can’t be blamed on an electricity surge because there was no power supply to the market hours before the fire broke out and hours after it. Just like most fire incidents, I think it will be a case of negligence on the part of the shop owners but we are conducting our investigation to unravel the cause of the fire.”

Shakiru disclosed further that efforts were still in top gear to ensure an escalation of the fire due to the inflammatory nature of goods being sold in the market.

“We are still doing everything necessary to curtail further escalation of the fire because the items that are affected are combustible. You know that plank is a flammable material. We have begun evacuation of the debris while ensuring that the fire did not surge again,” he said.

Scene of the fire at the Ladipo plank market, Lagos State

Meanwhile, the traders while lamenting the loss that the fire had caused them expressed fear that the Lagos State Government may take over the land after the incident.

A trader, who identified himself as Rasheed, claimed that billions of naira had been lost due to the fire.

“One thing we cannot ascertain is how the fire started. All I know is that the fire started around 12:30am. People were not allowed to sleep in the market so I wonder what happened and how the fire started,” he said.

“Each wood cost N1,800 and some of them cost N2,500, so billions have been lost in this fire. The saddest thing is that some people just restocked their shops yesterday (Tuesday) and now all their properties have been lost.”

Another trader who pleaded anonymity said many traders would return to poverty, adding that there were fears that the government might take over the market.

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