14 shops burnt in Lagos chicken market inferno

A fire outbreak which happened in the wee hours of Tuesday in a chicken market at the Ijora Olopa, Lagos, has razed down no fewer than 14 shops.  The fire incident, it was learnt, started about 4:00a.m.  City News learnt that the inferno was triggered by a spark from the nearby transformer when all the […]

A fire outbreak which happened in the wee hours of Tuesday in a chicken market at the Ijora Olopa, Lagos, has razed down no fewer than 14 shops.

 The fire incident, it was learnt, started about 4:00a.m.

 City News learnt that the inferno was triggered by a spark from the nearby transformer when all the shops were under lock and key.

 A security man informed our correspondent that he heard some strange noise from the transformer around 3:00a.m before the spark occurred, resulting in fire which engulfed the line where only chicken shops were stored.

 Our correspondent who was at the scene yesterday morning reported that smoke was still bellowing from the shops, though fire fighters had put off the inferno.

 Residents of the area who spoke with City News said when they noticed the fire outbreak, they immediately alerted officials of the state Fire Service who mobilized their resources to fight the blaze.

 One of the victims, Omowunmi Alagangan, told our correspondent that she got a call around 5:00a.m about the incident, saying, “By the time I got here, I discovered my shop had been burnt completely because the fire actually started from the shop close to the transformer and my own shop was just next to that shop.”

 Alagangan, who said she could not estimate the exact cost of her loss, said she only knew she had lost thousands of naira to the inferno.

 Another victim, Mrs. Toyin Rilwan, was still in shock, crying all her investments had been lost to the inferno. She called on the Lagos State government to come to their aid.

 “Things are very hard now. There is recession. Government has to come to our aid for us to stand on our feet again. I have lost everything I depend on. My investments have gone,” she lamented.

  The Lagos State Director of Fire Service, Mr. Razak Fadipe, said his men were alerted of the incident in the early hours of the fateful day and they immediately took control of the situation.