News

February 15, 2011

Fire razes shops at Ikeja Mami market

By Evelyn Usman Goods worth millions of naira were at the early hours of yesterday razed by fire that gutted over 60 shops at the mami market in the Ikeja Military cantonment. The incident caused a stampede as residents in and around the area who were jolted from sleep, started making move to vacate their abodes, apparently thinking it was a reoccurrence of the January 27,2002 bomb blast which claimed hundreds of lives. The fire which cause could not be immediately ascertained, reportedly started from one of the shops at about 1am. Some of the shops owners who live close to the market, mustered courage to go see what was happening. While some of them were able to salvage their wares , others could not as they  helplessly watched the raging fire consumed  their wares. Wailing from the affected traders characterized the market yesterday, with some of them calling for a probe into the cause, following a similar incident last year. Spokesman for 9 Brigade, Ikeja Cantonment,   Major Olaolu Daudu,  who spoke on the incident, clarified that the fire was not caused by any explosive as earlier insinuated, pointing out that if it was true, some of the traders would not have succeeded in evacuating their wares from the shops. He  noted  that the fire was eventually put out by the combined efforts of men of the Fire service of  the Nigerian Army, federal and state. No life according to him, was lost in the inferno, adding that “a committee had been set  up to investigate the incident.”

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