Fire Razes Sections Of Oba Market In Ekiti
A section of the popular Obas market in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti state has been razed by fire leaving property, wares and goods worth over N150 million destroyed
It was learnt that the incident which occurred on Tuesday night destroyed the portion of the market comprising, 30 lock-up shops and stalls located opposite the Post office at the popular Bisi market area of the town.
The building belonging to Governor Ayodele Fayose’s Chief of Staff, Chief Dipo Anisulowo, according to eyewitnesses suddenly caught fire at about 7.30 pm destroying all the property within.
The affected traders, acting under the aegis of Ekiti State Youth Traders’ Association, linked the incident to alleged arson attack by unknown persons because the building belonged to a top politician in PDP fold in the state.
The Chairman of the Association, Opeyemi Fakayode, who narrated how the incident happened said it started at about 7.30 pm when the security guard had already arrived.
He said some of the property could have been salvaged by men of Fire Services, but for lack of water in the fire fighting tanker, adding that the other vehicles that could have helped the situation suddenly developed fault upon arriving at the scene.
He said: “None of us was able to salvage a pin from that place. Even the guard had arrived and was about changing his dresses behind the building when he came back to meet huge smoke coming through the windows.
“We suspected arson because one of the window’s blade had bent, meaning that someone must have done that for sinister intention. We suspected that was where they used to set the building on fire.
“It could not have been electrical problem, because our light had been disconnected before the incident. Even the fuse of the generating set we were using collectively was intact and was put on neutral, which we believed could not have sparked fire.
“Some of us just went to market to buy new products to sell when the incident happened and we may end up having nothing if we have no help”.
Fakayode added that they had called the state fire service upon receiving distress calls from the security guards to salvage the situation, but they didn’t turn up on time.
“When the fire fighters came with two tankers, one of them had no water while the other one with water could not pump, it because it became faulty.
“It was after this we called Afe Babalola University, which deployed its tanker but the property had already been razed down completely before it arrived”, he added.
In a letter dated June 20 signed by the victims and addressed to the General Manager, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), appealed to the state government for relief materials.
The traders also appealed to the government and well-meaning Nigerians to assist them for them to be able to return to the market and begin trading again.
