Fire Razes Lagos Plank Market

Yusuf Muhammed

Fire has razed Awori plank market in Abule-Egba, a suburb of Lagos state, southwest Nigeria.

It took over four hours for men of the Lagos state fire service to put out the fire which destroyed goods worth millions of naira, including three vehicles parked at a nearby mechanic workshop.

P.M.NEWS gathered that the fire started from a waste plastic recycling shop before spreading to the plank market.

Comrade Bayo Babalola, one of the auditors of United Waste Recycling, Lagos state, discarded the claim.

He insisted that nobody knew exactly where the fire started but commended the courage of the traders who have started reconstruction of the market after the fire incident.

The Divisional Police officer in charge of Oko-Oba Police Station, Akintade William, who was the incident duty officer in Area ‘G’ Command, led a team of policemen to the market to prevent hoodlums from looting unaffected shops at the market after the incident.

A trader who sells drinks and recharge cards at the market said she lost over N200,000 to the fire.

The trader, Mrs. Bola Shotobu, lamented that her losses include two deep freezers, an electricity generating set, recharge cards and an unspecified amount of money.

When  our correspondent visited the scene of the incident Monday morning, the traders were seen  trying to erect new structures while some were still searching for their valuables.

Mr.Abiodun Sule , a resident of Awori community who spoke with our reporter, called  on the relevant authorities to take adequate steps to avert  future occurrence.