How Balogun market traders lost billions to inferno

There are indeed strong men and women in Nigeria. They are strong not physically but emotionally. Someone could feel the tears they are bravely avoiding to shed. Their trembling voice, disposition, words, and most especially, the eyes fighting back the tears said it all. Even the most hardened heart couldn’t help but feel for them. […]

There are indeed strong men and women in Nigeria. They are strong not physically but emotionally. Someone could feel the tears they are bravely avoiding to shed. Their trembling voice, disposition, words, and most especially, the eyes fighting back the tears said it all. Even the most hardened heart couldn’t help but feel for them. They just lost their lives’ earning and means of survival to an inferno!

A man in his 40s from the Eastern part of the country walked absentmindedly towards the fire at Balogun market. It was obvious that he was lost in thought as he moved towards the fire-razed building which was once his source of livelihood. As he moved closer to the building, security officials on ground quickly took him away and led him to a safe place where he could see the building from a distance. The way he was putting his hands on his head, shaking it head and controlling the tears from showing, shows he is psychologically and emotionally disturbed. Just some minutes after he was taken away from the building, two buildings collapsed simultaneously.

If not for the security operatives, he would have died beneath the rubbles. Wednesday, January 29 will be remembered by many in Balogun market as a sad day. It was the day seven buildings were ravaged by fire in Martins and Sanni Adewale streets. Three out of the seven buildings collapsed on their own. By Thursday, January 30, the number of buildings ravaged by fire had become nine and four out of them had collapsed.

That Wednesday was just like every other day for the traders. They came early to their store, opened their shops and warehouses and trading commenced. But, one of the traders who had already switched on his generator in Anambra Plaza was pouring fuel in it without switching it off. And before people around could stop him, the generating set caught fire and like every other wild fire, it started moving from one building to the other.

Eye witnesses recounted how astonished they were when they saw fire ‘flying’ from one building into the other. By the time they called the emergency numbers and fire services at 10am, the fire had gone viral. Despite arriving at 10:34am, the fire services of Lagos State could not handle the fire. The federal fire services and Julius Berger fire truck had to join the struggle to extinguish the fire. There was smoke everywhere. The smoke could be seen many kilometers away.

Just as the firemen were battling to extinguish the raging fire, traders in the buildings besides the burning buildings quickly hired men to help salvage their goods. While some were counting their losses due to the fire, others were counting money as they were able to make quick cash. Some used the opportunity to sell big sacks, others used the opportunity to move to the building which traders feared could catch fire and started moving the goods from there.

There are some physically strong men who dared the fire and went into the seven-storey building beside the burnt one. They wrap the goods and throw it down to the owner who in turn hand it over to another human carrier who carries it to safety, somewhere far from the inferno. An eyewitness told our correspondent that as they were throwing the goods down, the weight of one of the goods was so much that an ‘aboki’ fell from the fourth floor with the goods, but, he did not die. Where he was taken to for treatment remained a mystery.

In spite of the thick smoke and tensed environment, some traders were selling their wares in the same Balogun Market as if nothing happened. Balogun Ajeniya market is a market located in Lagos Island and it was built in the 1970s. The market has no particular address like Jankara, Idumota and other markets on the Island as it sprawls across so many streets. Shoes, fabrics and all sorts of wares are sold in large quantities in the market.

The January 29 and 30 fire disaster was not the first fire outbreak in Balogun Market. On November 4, 2013, fire engulfed the 25-storey building Great Nigeria House in Balogun market where the fire raged for 24 hours. Years after, specifically from November 5 to 9, 2019, Brasas Plaza by Great Nigeria House and another plaza at Idumagbo burnt with the goods in it. A police officer deployed to control the situation lost his life.

The money lost to the inferno could not be ascertained but, traders estimated it to be billions of naira. Recounting the fire incident, a trader named Chibuzor who specializes in the sale of ladies jeans trousers said he was not around when the fire started. He said by the time he got to the market, the fire had circulated to six buildings. He was not able to take anything from the shop before it got burnt. He estimated the goods in his shop to be worth N5million.

Chibuzor appealed to the state government to “help us with some social amenities. Balogun and other adjoining markets need a fire fighting station around. Oluwole Park is lying fallow and could be used to build a fire station in Idumota. If that is available, there will not be massive loss of property as it were because the situation would be quickly curtailed. A lot of us have lost our shops, warehouses. Fire incident is a common thing in markets due to some people’s carelessness. This incident really affected me so badly that I lost everything I had.”

A salesgirl in one of the plazas, Chiamaka Cheruo told our correspondent that the fire incident was more than the November incident considering the number of buildings affected.

“When I got to the shop in the morning, I had already cleaned everywhere and a customer wanted to buy a shoe which I didn’t have in the shop but it was at the parking store. When I got to the parking store, it was already sealed and I returned to the shop only to discover fire burning. The fire was bringing out thick smoke and if inhaled, could make someone collapse. I had to rush out without bringing out a dime from the shop. The goods in the shop are more than N10million. We appeal to the government to help us.”

Another Balogun market trader Isaac Omeje who has been selling ladies wears since 2000 said his store was burnt. “I lost more than N10million to the inferno. I could not take anything away from the shop because I was not at the shop when the fire broke out. When I got here, the whole warehouse was burnt. I have not paid my children’s school fees, now that this happened, I don’t know where to start from again.”

One of the residents in the area who pleaded anonymity said, “The Lagos State government should evacuate all public servants living at the staff quarters in 16 Sanni Adewale. This is the third fire outbreak around that area. The fire outbreaks have weakened the building. We don’t want the building to collapse one day with vibrant public servants living in there. It’s a three-storey building with not less than 20 public servants. The buildings that surround the ones razed by fire recently should be demolished too to avoid casualties in the nearest future.”

The Director General of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, insisted the fire spread to many shops simultaneously due to the generators as well as containers of fuel inside each shop in each building.  He hinted that all buildings affected by the fire will be subjected to integrity test and the buildings that failed the test will be pulled down.

“If our people don’t change their attitudes, we will keep on having the same result. We will penalize the people that are subjecting us to this disaster. Due to the psychological shock, many people are affected though.”

Regarding the sensitization of traders on prevention of fire accident in the future, the DG of safety commission, Lanre Mojola, said he was surprised with the fire in the market as his team was at the Balogun market few days earlier to sensitize the traders on safety.

“We went around the market and sensitized people on the importance of keeping generators and other flammables away. Unfortunately, this fire started due to human error. The government has invested a lot in buying fire-fighting and fire suppression equipment including fire extinguishers and it was given to the traders. Despite our efforts, people want to cut corners. It would have taken just a minute to switch off the generator, fuel it and switch it on. Failure to do that has led to many people losing everything to fire.”

The Acting Director of the state fire services, Mrs. Margaret Oluseye said it was difficult to put out the fire due to the closeness of the buildings. Many emergency responders including the Police, Red Cross, FRSC, building control agency, joined the fire services and emergency managers to jointly extinguish the fire and clear the debris of the collapsed buildings.