4th May, 2011
Fire caused by an explosion from a generating set has gutted a large portion of the popular Aiyetoro market in Epe, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria and burnt goods worth millions of Naira.
More than 39 shops were affected by the fire. Though no life was lost, owners of the affected shops claimed that all their wares such as generating sets, electronics, lace materials and general goods were destroyed in the fire which started in the morning.
Some of the affected traders old P.M.NEWS that the fire started when an unidentified shop attendant in the market whose master travelled to the village for burial poured petrol inside a generating set which was on. The generating set, it was learnt, exploded and caused fire which spread rapidly to other shops.
Witnesses told P.M.NEWS that the fire worsened when generating sets kept inside shops by their owners started exploding. This prevented people from removing their wares from the shops.
Though fire fire fighters from Epe arrived the scene promptly, but they could not put out the fire because their small water tanker was soon exhausted in the huge inferno. The arrival of other fire fighters from Ikorodu and Lagos Island helped put out the fire, investigations revealed.
Narrating the ordeal of Igbo traders in the market to P.M.NEWS, Chairman of Igbo traders association, Mr. Famous Agbaji appealed to the government to compensate all the traders that lost their wares in the market, adding that if the town had effective fire fighting equipment, the goods destroyed by the fire would have been minimised.
Aiyetoro market is a major market in Epe.
The Iyaloja of the market, Alhaja Abeni Detonwo and the Baba Oja, Chief Tajudeen Nureini also appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola and the Epe LCDA chairman, Hon. Segun Agbaje to compensate affected traders and build more fire stations in Epe to avoid a reoccurrence.
—Paul Iyoghojie