Traders at Arena Market in Oshodi, Lagos State, are counting losses amounting to millions of naira following a fire that engulfed a section of the market on Monday evening
According to The PUNCH, the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, through its Controller-General, Margaret Adeseye, said it received a distress call around 5:50 pm, prompting the rapid deployment of firefighting units.
The team reportedly arrived at the scene within five minutes.
The fire affected ten shops in total, comprising five 40-foot container shops arranged in two rows.
Fortunately, the fire was confined to this section and posed no risk to neighboring areas of the market, the fire service added.
During a visit to the scene on Wednesday, firefighters were seen performing final damp-down operations, while scavengers removed burnt goods from the damaged containers.
A trader, who identified himself as Chris, criticized the lack of preparedness that worsened the fire.
He said, “When the fire started, the Arena fire service was the first to arrive, but when they got here, they discovered that they had no water.
“They went back again, and when they came back, the water they brought was not much. They had to go back to fetch more water. During this time, the fire had already begun to spread. In fact, they look confused.
“Despite all the money they are making from the traders, they can’t equip the section of the market for emergencies like this. It was not too long before the Lagos fire service came. Although they came with one fire engine, that didn’t suppress the fire until they later brought another one.”
A teenage trader, Chidi Nwafor, explained the difficulty in saving goods from the blaze. “We tried to salvage some of the goods, but the fire spread so quickly because of the clothes kept in the containers. It was from that window that we were throwing the clothes out from,” he said, pointing at a burnt container.
In footage captured at the scene, a trader named Chibuike was seen distraught during the fire, having just restocked his shop the day before.
Another trader shared the devastating impact on cash, revealing that his brother’s shop had N11 million in cash intended for restocking after the New Year celebrations.
“The incident happened when everyone was already closing, and he had already left. He ran back to this place only to see his shop on fire.”
The fire at Arena Market occurred as emergency teams continue their operations at the site of the Great Nigeria Insurance Plaza fire, conducting search-and-rescue efforts.
