Fire guts 30 shops in Iponri Market-Lagos

No fewer than 30 shops were destroyed, while goods estimated at millions of naira were lost after a popular Lagos Market, Abibatu Mogaji Model Market, also known as Iponri Market, was gutted by fire on Tuesday night.

It was learnt that the fire started around 11pm.

The incident led to a partial closure of the market on Wednesday when our correspondent visited it.

PUNCH Metro gathered that although the  cause of the fire had yet to be ascertained, an electric power surge might have triggered the fire after electricity was restored to the area.

A trader, who claimed to have lost goods estimated at N5m, said, “The fire started around 11pm.”

The woman said residents in the housing estate near the market alerted the state’s fire service when the incident happened.

Our correspondent observed as a woman, identified as Iya Fatimoh, a widow, was being condoled by friends on her losses.

She told PUNCH Metro, “I sell disposable materials and this is the only shop I have. This is where I feed my children. I learnt about the fire around 1am. I could not come down because I live very far away. Unfortunately for me, I kept N150, 000 in that shop last night.”

Another trader who identified herself as Mary Ulo said she lost about N2m to the inferno.

The Managing Director, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the fire was put out around 3am.

He said, “Immediately the fire started, we activated our emergency response plan. Because of the emergency response, we thank God that we did not have any morbidity or mortality associated with this inferno. The fire was put out around 3am.

“We are still doing the enumeration to count the people who lost their things and the number of shops affected. Investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire, but we were told it was caused by a power surge.”

Many of the traders declined to speak to journalists on the incident.

But a woman was heard saying, “Please help us beg them not to close our shops. They only opened it recently and we cannot afford the market to be shut again.”

PUNCH Metro had reported on February 12, 2014 that the state’s market leader, Folasade Tinubu-Ojo, led a team of policemen to seal off the market.

The 10-day closure was said to be due to deviation from the market standards.