Fire razes 50 shops in Ibadan

No fewer than 50 shops were razed at the building materials section of Ogunpa market, Ibadan, on Wednesday evening. Eyewitnesses said the fire started around 7.30pm and raged for hours, destroying about 50 shops and the wares therein.

The fire, according to them, was ignited by a loud explosion from one of the shops within the clustered area. It is believed that the fire started from some of the shops where wares such as gun powder and other combustible items are sold.

Victims cried uncontrollably, lamenting their huge loss in the inferno. One of the victims, Ibraheem Iyiola, said that he lost about N2 million to the fire.

He said: “We had closed for the day around 6pm. It was almost 8pm when a friend called to inform me of the incident. But before I could get here about an hour later, it was too late to save anything. The fire had caught the ceiling and it fell on my wares. I could not save anything.” What a pity! 

The Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Lowo Obisesan, conveyed Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s sympathy to the victims.