An early morning fire outbreak on Sunday razed some parts of Araromi Market at Agodi Gate, Ibadan, where used tyres and motor parts worth over N10 million were destroyed.
Mr Abdul Azeez Ojo, Chairman of the market, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the inferno began at about 5.30 a.m.
According to him, the Fire Service was alerted and they responded promptly.
Ojo, however, said a sizeable number of shops equipped with tyres and other goods were razed before the arrival of the fire fighters at about 6 a.m.
“The Fire Service were able to put out the fire to avert more destruction. Nevertheless, shop owners still suffered losses worth over N10 million.
“The most pathetic thing is that these burnt shops were owned by young traders who have just started business and we appealed to the state government to assist them,’’ he said.
One of the traders whose shop was affected, Mr Saheed Sikiru revealed that he received a phone call around 5.30am on Sunday that shops around his zone in the market were on fire, adding that he and others lost everything they had in stock to the incident.
Mr Sikiru, who spoke with Metro, revealed that the fire affected two welders’ shops, food vendor, scrap and tyre shops.
Sikiru, in a low voice told Metro how the incident happened. “We received a telephone call around 5.30am that some shops in our zone were on fire. When we came, we met fire fighters working on the fire by the time they were through, most shops here with goods worth several millions of naira had been razed.”
Two other victims of the incident, Hassan Olanrewaju and Michael Ajayi, whose shops were razed lamented the incident.
They pleaded with the state government and other well-meaning Nigerians to assist them financially to enable them go back to business.
Mr Adeleke Isiaka, the Fire Service team commander, said his team arrived at the scene promptly when they received the call, adding the response time was impressive.
Isiaka said his team was able to put out the fire on time due to the cooperation received from the traders and sympathisers.
“The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained, but it is possible that careless handling of cigarette butts may be responsible.
“I am saying this because there was no electricity supply or any sign of cooking in the market at the time of the incident,’’ Isiaka said.
NAN further reports that men of the Nigeria Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were on ground to prevent looting of shops.