Scores of traders were thrown into anguish yesterday when fire razed over 300 shops at the popular Sabo market in Sagamu, Ogun State.
Goods worth many millions of naira destroyed by the fire included clothes, yam flour, herbs, kolanut, padlocks, shoes and building materials.
The cause of the fire was attributed to a surge in supply when the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company restored power at about 1am.
Our correspondent gathered that the fire, which lasted for many hours, started from the clothes section and spread to other areas, compounded by the gas shops within the market.
An old woman and clothes seller, Mrs Sola Ekundayo, told newsmen that she lost all her goods worth over N400,000. Ekundayo lamented that while a large part of the goods were lost to the inferno, it was hoodlums who stole the others.
“I have lost count of my losses. My shop got burnt like this some years ago and, unfortunately, I couldn’t get any support from the government. Where do I start from now? I have a number of orphans under my care,” she cried.
The trader appealed to the Ogun State government to come to her aid in cushioning her losses.
Governor Dapo Abiodun and the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Adewale Ajayi, had paid a visit to the scene of the fire outbreak.
Abiodun assured the people of Sagamu, especially traders affected by the fire, of government’s quick intervention at ensuring that the market was rebuilt as soon as possible.
“By the grace of God, we will rebuild this market and will not waste time. We will put measures in place to ensure it does not happen again. We will also look at how to ensure the efficiency of our Fire Service. Please, I want to enjoin you to be patient and calm, and give government some time. We will do everything to bring succour and relief to all those affected by this tragedy. But we must learn a lesson from what has happened here overnight; this must not happen in any of our markets again,” he said.
The Akarigbo of Remoland urged the affected traders to be patient with the state government in its quest to rebuild the market and offer relief materials to them.
