Fire Razed Down Major Markets And Shops In Lagos Within Two Weeks

 Fire Razed Down Major Markets And Shops In Lagos Within Two Weeks 

In a space of about two weeks, raging fire outbreaks have destroyed property estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of naira in some major markets across the country. But what could be the cause of these fires and what is the fate of victims? BUKOLA IDOWU, Lagos, ADEBAYO WAHEED, Ibadan, ALIYU YUSUF, Zaria and MUAZU ELAZEH, Katsina,  of Leadership Newspaper:
Francis Bruno was in the village somewhere in Anambra State attending to family issues when he got a phone call that fateful Monday morning. His caller had called to inform him that the building that houses his shop, his means of livelihood at the popular Balogun market was on fire. The person who called him made light of the matter but urged him to come to Lagos as soon as he could. He left Anambra and got to Lagos by Tuesday night.

The next morning, he got ready and set out for the shop. What he met was a shocker.
He said, “I was shocked by the extent of the damage and I just stood there staring at the razed buildings and muttering to myself ‘everything is gone.”
Days after an early morning inferno razed down four buildings at the Lagos market renowned for textile materials of all kind, shoes, bags and accessories, the fire was yet to fade out as at Wednesday when our correspondent visited the scene. Traders whose wares were destroyed in the fire had refused to leave the scene.
The early morning inferno razed down four buildings, 40, 42, 44 and 46 Balogun Street, barely sparing the Diamond Bank building close to it.
While the fire fighters were at the main road trying to suppress the fire, the traders gathered at the back street with some trying to see what they could salvage from the still burning building. Others were just staring at the ashes of their wares while others were discussing on what next to do.
Even as the traders and sympathisers stood and watched, scavengers were having the time of their lives, picking and packing into sacks, iron rods and wood from the burnt buildings, claiming territory over parts of the ruins and making continuous return trips for their spoils.
The fire was still raging inside the standing structures but it was such that a visitor to the market would not know that such a tragedy had happened until he or she got close to the affected buildings as business went on as usual. Traders using the make shift stalls in the middle of the road are back in business, some still doing final repair works on their wooden structures erected in the middle of the road, which were destroyed as fire fighters tried to gain access to the burning buildings.
Recounting their ordeal to LEADERSHIP Weekend, some of the traders seemed to have resigned to fate and were mainly concerned about how to start afresh with the little they have at hand.
Okechukwu Okoro, one of the affected traders walked around the building, inspecting it from every angle, even as other traders tried to console him.
He lost five shops and two warehouses to the inferno. This is aside his wife’s shops which were also destroyed by the fire. He declined an interviewbut could not hold back his lamentations. In an emotion-laden voice, like the Biblical Job, he bared his heart, speaking to no one in particular.
“I have shops in three buildings, everything burnt to ashes, both my ‘packing’ store (warehouse) and my shops, my wife’s shop, everything burnt! My own shops, my wife’s shops, my boys’ shops, everything is gone. My two warehouses and five shops where I sell, I did not even bring out anything, all my goods burnt inside there.
“My cash, all the money I made on Friday and Saturday, everything got burnt there and I can’t even go in. So what is there to say? Everything is gone and there is no chance for me to put something and start again. There is nothing again, everything is gone,” he lamented.
Okoro who ventured into the imported shoes and bags trade in 1998 with N27,000 following his six year apprenticeship, has grown the business into a multi-million naira venture and imports from various parts of the world.
Though he later agreed to speak with LEADERSHIP Weekend, he refused to put a figure to what he has lost.
“If I say I lose N20 million or N25 million, nobody will pay me back and what will I do about it? I have lost a lot of money but if I say this, it starts to bother me. Nothing I say will bring out the money. It is gone so it is better I leave it like that because God knows best,” he stated.
According to him, he had just cleared the goods he was supposed to sell during the Christmas period, having returned from a trip to China where he also bought more goods.
“I came back on January 7 and brought those goods I was supposed to bring and sell for Christmas on the 8th and I brought my other goods from Searider and China on the 10th and even the goods I have not paid for, all of them.”
Bruno who also lost his shop and warehouse in the fire lamented that his means of livelihood for the past 12 years has gone down the drain. The father of four wondered aloud what would become of his family as he has neither cash nor goods to start all over again.
“As I dey now, I dey stranded. I no know where to go fix myself. If to say cash dey, I fit look for another shop, because all the goods we have in December all of them dey there (in the fire) burnt,” he said in Pidgin English.
Braving the smoke, he ventured into the still burning building to see if he could salvage some of his wares but returned, disappointed.
“The heat is much, I can’t even open the door,” he said even as he remembered a friend who owed him N72,000.
“I am going to his shop now, he has to pay my money now. I won’t take it easy with him again,”he was overheard telling a fellow trader.
Elected last year August and billed to be sworn in on February 14, 2015, the president elect of the Marketers and Designers of Footwears and Bags Association, Lagos, Goodness Oguaju, who had moved from Tejuosho Market to Balogun six years ago, is also a victim.
Oguaju who said, “I don’t have N100 to myself now, I had to borrow to come here today” lost his two shops and a warehouse to the fire. Quantifying the value of the loss, he said billions of naira in cash and wares had been destroyed by the fire.
He explained that, “last week, on Friday, someone off loaded seven 40 feet containers of goods here and you can imagine how much that amounts to.”
In all he estimates the number of traders affected in the fire that gutted four buildings at over 2000, saying, “in my own building (Rich Plaza), we are more than 500 registered members.”
He hopes the government would fulfil all what was promised when the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola visited the scene on Tuesday, considering the upcoming elections.
Barely four days after the Balogun Market was gutted by fire, another fire outbreak razed major parts of Berlin Market, in the Lagos Island and other structures in the Lagos metropolis.
Our correspondent gathered that several goods worth millions of naira and undisclosed amount of money got burnt in the fire that engulfed 70 per cent of the market in the early hours of Friday, at about 5:30am.
The fire that raged for about six hours at Market Street almost spread to the new Central Bank of Nigeria structure in Lagos Island. As the fire billowed, the close-built of the steel lock-up shops at the market hindered the fire servicemen’s efforts to put out the fire at the early stage, but with the forceful breaking of some shops to gain free entrance, the inferno was eventually curtailed.
Though the cause of the inferno was not immediately known, some of the traders blamed it on incessant power outage and restoration. A trader who simply gave his name as Shola said one of the generators of some traders who sleep in the market may have ignited the inferno.
In Ibadan Oyo State, where property estimated to be worth over N500 million were also consumed by fire, it is the same tales of woes. Following the destruction of motor spare parts worth N500 million at the popular Araromi-Gate Motor Spare Parts market, affected traders have called on the state government and well-meaning Nigerians to come to their aid, as sympathisers have continued to throng the scene.
Speaking on behalf of the affected traders, the chairman of Ibadan Motor Parts Dealers Union, Chief Gbolagade Orodele expressed sadness over the fire outbreak.
He said he was contacted about the disaster by security men stationed at the market at 10:30pm.
He added that men of the fire service and some traders battled for hours to put out the fire to save the rest of the market.
“This is a sad incident which has consumed goods worth millions of naira. We only want the government to come to our aid because this is an irreparable loss for the traders some of who borrowed money from microfinance banks and it’s a huge debt. Since it has been happening, it has not got to this level before.
“As for the value of property lost, it can’t be less than N500 million because many traders were affected. Some could not even retrieve anything from their shops. We would be happy if the government can provide a fire station for us here,” he stated.
Meanwhile, politicians have turned the loss of the people into a subject of campaign with many political groups visiting and making promises to the traders.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that Accord Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) have indicated interest in assisting the traders.
While the Accord Party is interested in rebuilding the mosque located within the market, the SDP had proposed financial assistance just as the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the owner of the market would reconstruct the burnt shops.
But the promises of the various political parties have heightened tension within the market, particularly among its leadership. Some of the traders perceived to be supporters of the APC have warned against inviting any political party to come and promise or do anything in the market.
They have called on the Accord Party to come and take back the sand and blocks already dropped at the site of the mosque.
At the Magama Border Market in Magama local government of Katsina State last week, it was tales of anguish when an early morning inferno razed the market which is one of the busiest in the state and famous for stocking foodstuffs and clothing materials in large quantities.
According to witnesses, the fire which started at about 4am razed 370 shops. Shops in the market are owned by residents of the community and indigenes of neighbouring Niger Republic.
In Zaria, Kaduna State, Precious Ezenwa, 34, is still traumatised. She still does not know the details of the fire outbreak that consumed her only source of livelihood in the recent fire outbreak at the Main Market, Zaria.
It would be recalled that a fire outbreak occurred in Sabon-Gari Main Market, Zaria, recently, which has been making life difficult for some of the victims that were grossly affected by the inferno.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that the fire which started at midnight about a fortnight ago destroyed over 400 shops and also burnt down many sheds and property worth millions of naira. Business activities have been at its lowest ebb at the market since the unfortunate incident occurred.
Precious, who trades in men and women’s wears and cosmetics, as well as decoration items only remembered waking up to the news that the market had been razed by fire.
She said, “I sell cosmetics, men and women wears and other cotton materials for decoration; all was burnt down following the fire outbreak.
“My business has crumbled. I have also lost my customers and it will take some time for me to settle down and restart my business.”
Mallam Hamisu Kabo, a vegetable and fruits seller also a victim of the fire, in an emotion-laden voice, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that all his goods worth thousands of naira were lost in the inferno.
“My greatest worry is that I bought the goods on credit which I planned to sell to my customers who operate restaurants before everything was gutted by fire. The inferno razed down the entire building. It will take some time before I would be able to gather money to start again,” he noted.
A vegetable seller at the market, Mallam Abdulrauf, said, “when I heard about the fire outbreak, I rushed to the scene immediately and saw that all our shops were burnt.
“I have about five shops close to the meat sellers and the inferno destroyed them all including vegetables worth thousands of naira. I am shocked at the volume of loss here. My business partners also lost everything,” he narrated.
According to him, timely response by fire fighters would have averted the spread of the inferno that destroyed many shops in the heart of the main market.
“We are now left with no option than using our available resources to construct temporary stalls. As I’m talking with you now, I am done with the carpentry work, waiting for government to redeem pledges for the rehabilitation of the market.”
He appealed to the government and members of the public to assist the victims with necessary aid to enable them start up their business.
Meanwhile, one of the victims, Alhaji Muhammadu popularly known as Mai Kanti Sauki, describes his ordeal as nothing rather than destiny.
According to him, “it’s the second of its kind since the time I started operating a provisions business in the market almost 30 years ago.
“Our major challenge is lack of access road to enable fire fighters render support whenever there is disaster. A market like this is supposed to have a separate fire fighting arm as well as dedicated electricity supply. We believe that only God Almighty can replace the loss as a result of the fire incident,” he added.
Vice chairman, Butchers’ Association, Sabon Gari Market, Mallam Adamu Ibrahim said sympathisers and men of the fire service battled to put out the raging fire but not after it had burnt hundreds of shops. He therefore appealed to government to come to the victims’ aid with a view to cushioning the effect of the loss.
The chairman, Sabon Ggari Market Association, Abubakar Bagobiri told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the absence of an access road was the major reason why the fire destroyed so much property as fire fighters could not access the site in good time.
While noting that the fire could have been triggered by an electric spark, he emphasised the need for the market to be provided a separate transformer that would be turned off at the close of business every day.
“If a transformer is specifically dedicated to the market, it will be controlled so that electricity will only be supplied in the market during the day time and this will certainly assist,” he added.
What Caused the Fire?
Though there is no clear cause of any of the fires as government agencies said the causes were yet unknown and investigations were on-going, the leaders of the various market unions have advanced various reasons as being the likely causes of the fire or its extent of damage.
Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mr Rasaq Fadipe, said though the cause of the fire had not been ascertained but an electrical fault around the market was suspected.
A trader at Balogun market, Oguaju, for instance, blamed the devastation on the illegal structures built on the roads and allowed by the local government.
“It wouldn’t have escalated to this level if preventive measures were taken before now. The fire fighters came in very early but they were unable to access the building because of the clusters that were placed on the road by the iyaloja, the local government and other officials. It
was alleged that the access road was turned into a market because they have been bought over with money. The fire would have been stopped as soon as it started if the shops were easily accessible. The fire started around 2am and by the time I got here around 4am, the fire was already in the second plaza,” he noted.
Traders at the Sabon-Garin market say the fire may have been triggered by an electric spark but blamed its devastation on the absence of an access road to aid easy passage of fire fighting trucks to the scene even as they advocated the need for there to be dedicated fire station for markets.
Government Reacts
Lagos state governor, Babatunde Fashola who visited the scene, promised that government would replace structures lost to the inferno to enable traders get back to business.
Speaking on the incident, the Caretaker Chairman of Ibadan North East Local Government, Mr Ladi Oluokun commiserated with the traders, thanking God that no lives were lost to it and assured that government will support the victims and give them relief. The council boss admonished the traders to ensure that they insure their goods and property, adding that in case of any unforeseen incident, the insurance company would be responsible for the loss.
Scores of affected traders were compiling their names and items lost to the inferno in order to seek government assistance, as sympathisers thronged the market.
The state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi has pledged his administration’s readiness to assist the victims of the fire that gutted market. The governor’s special adviser on media, Dr Festus Adedayo, said in a statement in Ibadan that the governor made the pledge during an assessment tour of the burnt market.
The fire disaster, which occurred on Friday, destroyed several iron rod shops and gas cylinder shops as well as a mosque located within the market.
  Fire Razed Down Major Markets And Shops In Lagos Within Two Weeks