A plank market at Ogba in Ikeja, Lagos State, has been gutted by fire.
The cause of the fire, which began in the early hours of Sunday, April 3, 2022, is yet to be ascertained,
The Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, confirmed in a statement that no casualties had been recorded yet from the incident.
“Firefighting operations are still ongoing without any reported injury or death case thus far,” Adeseye said.
She also noted that operatives were deploying strategies to avoid the spread of the fire, adding that relevant information would be communicated to the public as they arise.
“The agency is, however, assuring the public that the strategy deployed to control the burning rage with copius water and chemical foam compound would not allow it to affect any nearby property or life,” she said.
Many traders across the country have been losing businesses at an alarming rate to market fires recently.
The ICIR reported that traders in Abuja lost goods worth millions of naira to a fire that consumed a section of the Karmo market three days ago.
According to a report in September 2021, Nigeria has lost over N41 billion to market fires in two years.
This has affected many businesses, and worsened the country’s already dwindling economy.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.