Traders Count Losses as Fire Razes Popular Oyo Market

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

Property worth millions of naira were last Tuesday night destroyed by fire that razed some parts of the popular Aleshinloye Market in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The fire incident, which broke out at the midnight, left trails of losses, wailing and anguish as many traders lost multiple shops to the inferno.

This was as the state government assured shop owners who lost their wares and property to the fire incident of necessary intervention and support to cushion the effect of their losses and bring back normalcy into the market.

Some of the traders, while speaking with journalists yesterday, expressed sadness, and called for assistance from the state government and philanthropists in society.

One of the victims, Rukayat AbdulLateef, said the fire consumed two shops with over N50 million worth of goods.

According to her, “I just bought about N5.4 million worth of goods in my two shops last Thursday, and I have some goods left there before restocking because we don’t normally finish selling the previous goods before restocking.

“I borrowed money to buy the goods in those shops, and I made N1 million on goods from last Thursday. I don’t know where to start now.”

Another victim, Toyeebat Bello, said the fire incident affected her 10 shops with goods worth over N70 million destroyed.

She said: “I got the information about the fire last Tuesday night but couldn’t come down at that time. On getting to the market, I discovered that all my 10 shops were affected.

“What we have been hearing before is that the government wanted to demolish Aleshinloye market, and we have been appealing to them, not knowing that this kind of thing will happen.”

A member of the market’s task force and one of the victims of the inferno, Sodiq Oloriade, said he lost all his goods to the fire.

“The destruction may not have been as massive had the state fire station in the market worked. I think that an electric surge caused the fire,” he said.

The General Manager of Oyo State Fire Service, Mr. Yemi Akinyinka, while confirming the incident in a statement yesterday, said men of the agency were still working at the market.

“Men are currently working at Aleshinloye market. We thank the management of SWEETCO for releasing their truck and men.

“We are grateful to Sumal for releasing their crew to the scene, we are eternally grateful to them and SWEETCO. The fire was very massive. We cannot respond to individual questions now due to logistics,” he said.

The state Deputy Governor,  Bayo Lawal, during an assessment visit to the scene, described the incident as unfortunate, and ordered an immediate preliminary investigation into the incidence to enable the government to take decisions in favour of the victims.

Lawal, while thanking God on behalf of the victims that no life was lost to the inferno, assured them that the state government would do the needful first before embarking on proper investigation on the cause of the incident.

He also assured them that the state government through the state emergency management agency (OYSEMA) and NEMA would made palliatives available for them.

He, however implored the leadership of the market to quickly present their reports, taking into stock the shops and wares damaged by the inferno, for the state government to expedite measures of intervention.