Seven injured as fire razes buildings, shops in Lagos

no fewer than seven persons were injured on Sunday night when fire razed over 109 shops and houses in IJora, Lagos.

The fire, which started at 5.30pm, followed a gas cooker explosion in one of the shops. Properties worth millions were destroyed.

Eyewitnesses said ‘area boys’ attempted to quell the fire before the police arrived at 6pm. Lagos State Fire Service officials (LSFS) arrived at 8pm when the “enormous damaged had been done”, sources said.

A shop owner, Alhaji Babafemi Ojora, lamented his loss: “I have lost everything, only God can replace everything I have lost but I thank God Almighty for my life”.

He hailed the area boys for their efforts in containing the fire before the fire fighters’ arrival.

Isa Abdullah, another described the incident as sad.

He said: “I sat down immediately I heard not minding where I was at that point. I came to Lagos from Jigawa State to earn a living and now I am left with nothing, what would my wife and my children live and feed on?”

Other shop owners expressed their grief amid tears. Many stood by the remains of their burnt shops.

A mechanical Engineer, who declined to give his name, said he just acquired machines worth N7million days before the inferno.

He blamed the fire service for not responding fast enough.

“They didn’t show up until everything has been razed,” he said.

A resident, who gave his name simply as Mohammed, said the inferno was the first he would witnessed since the market was built.

“We have never experienced such a devastating loss, we pray such incident never repeats itself and the market regains its stance,” he said.

Another witness said the fire started from one of the shops at the 7up area of Ijora, where black oil’s stored.

Confirming the incident, South-West Zonal spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye said the affected buildings belong to Bayelsa State Government.

Farinloye said: “About 109 shops and residential buildings were consumed in the fire outbreak at the scene, located in open space belonging to the Bayelsa State Government besides the 7up Bottling Company, Ijora.

“One person who sustained serious burns was rescued and taken to the hospital.

“The fire started from a shop filled with drums of black oil. People are also using the space as residence,” he said.

NAN recalls that early in the year, two people were burnt to death in an early morning fire that ravaged no fewer than 10 buildings, including a brothel in Ijora.

The January 15 inferno also destroyed properties worth millions of naira.

Several people, mostly sex workers and their customers were injured in their attempt to escape.

The victims were identified simply as John and Yaro and they were reportedly sleeping in one of the burnt buildings when the fire started.

Fire fighters’ to put out the fire were threathen by irate hoodlums.

The fire was said to have started following a power surge from one of the affected buildings and spread rapidly because of the nature of the wooden houses.