No fewer than 38 shops, filled with goods of various categories, have been destroyed by an early morning inferno at the Bodija International Market in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, south west Nigeria on Monday.
The incident happened at the Idi-igi Lane where grinders are located in the market and the cause, which has been described as mysterious by some traders, remains unknown as of the time of this report.
The inferno, according to eyewitness account, which started around 4.30am as a heavy smoke and later snowballed into a thick flame, was noticed around the Ori-ile end of the market.
Reports said the incident led to pandemonium in the market as other traders, who were not in the market, heard the news and made their way to the market to prevent criminals from taking advantage of the incident to loot their shops.
It was gathered that the goods in the affected shops were completely razed before officers and men of the Oyo State Fire Service could render any help.
Some of the traders commended the fire fighters for their timely response, stressing that the efforts of the firemen prevented the inferno from spreading to other parts of the market.
Victims of the incident have lamented their losses and called for support from the state government and other well meaning Nigerians.
As at the time of this report, fire fighters had left the scene while some scavengers were seen around the affected shops.
When contacted, the Director of Operations, Oyo State Fire Service Agency, Engr Ismail Adeleke, disclosed that the agency got an alert at about 5:35am and had to swing into action, saying the quick alert and timely response prevented the fire from spreading to other shops on the lane.
He however noted that the source of the fire could not be ascertained during preliminary investigation but confirmed that many goods, equipment and materials were ravaged by the inferno.
Adeleke stated: “The fire service received the distress call at about 5:35am from one Mr Akeredolu Ayo, from Yemetu Police Station, the officer alerted us of the fire incident in Bodija Market. Immediately, we deployed our personnel to the scene and on getting there, many shops were locked and fire had spread. We had to call for back up to help us tackle the fire.”
The shops razed were about 37 out of the multiple shops there. “We are yet to establish the immediate cause of the fire because investigation is still ongoing. We want to conclude our investigation before going public on the incident,” Adeleke explained.
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