By Bose Adelaja

Owode which literally means ‘’Money has arrived”, is a popular name in Lagos. Which is why we have Owode-Elede, Owode- Ibeshe and Owode-Onirin noted for being centres of commerce. Owode-Onirin is the most popular owing to its market stretch.

Irin in Yoruba stands for iron or sometimes all metal types used for various purposes such as construction, fabrication and fittings.

Situated on Mile 12- Ikorodu road in Kosofe Local Government, this market has been in existence for over three decades and remains the biggest market for iron and steel products, with complementary goods in Lagos.

The market is divided into two sections: the automobile  and metal fabrication sections. Also, the scrap market located within is open for deals in every aspect of scrap, ranging from accidented vehicles to company antiquities which are conspicuously displayed based on market arrangement.

It also plays host to other forms of business activities such as hawking, petty trading, food vendorship, cab hire and freighting, weight and measures, patent medicines and automobile engineering, to mention but a few.

A recent visit to the market revealed it is indeed a large community, although basic infrastructural facilities are lacking. Also, despite the usual Thursday sanitation exercise in Lagos markets, it was obvious that the traders at Owode-Onirin have not faithfully been observing the rules of hygiene as the place needs to be thoroughly cleaned up.

Few months back, the ongoing road expansion along the Mile12-Ikorodu road claimed part of the market to pave way for better traffic network.

But this is not the pressing problem in the market. What has left traders really worried is the fact that two major fire outbreaks occurred there within one week: Tuesday September 30 and Friday September 26, 2014. Some affected traders are still stranded on account of this.

While the one on Tuesday only affected few lock-up shops, the Friday inferno ravaged and consumed about 58 lock-up shops and 108 vehicles as the fire started in the night after the usual closing at 5pm.

Since the fire, things have not been the same in the market, although the incident was blamed on the market leadership which did not observe safety instructions given by the State government on fire prevention.

While the Tuesday inferno was said to have started from a battery charger’s shop, the cause of last Friday’s inferno still remains a mystery to both the traders and government. Fortunately, no life was lost in the incident.

Although normalcy seem to have returned to the market when Vanguard Metro, VM, visited the place on Monday, but some of the affected traders are still bemoaning their losses.

One of them, Alhaji Ibrahim Lasoro, said he acquired one of the lock-up shops in 1987. ‘’I lost goods worth N3.7million to the inferno. Also, I lost some important documents and personal effects and nobody can categorically state the cause of the inferno which has rendered many of us helpless.

I did not envisage such a disaster when I closed for the day. I got a distress call around 2pm and rushed to the scene by day break and I almost did not recognise my shops as everything was burnt beyond recognition,” he lamented.

During VM’s visit to the market, affected traders were seencutting the burnt remains of some vehicles into scraps with prospective buyers milling about.

Another victim of the inferno, Razaq Akinrinola, who deals in iron, said the inferno has more or less reduced him to a pauper. ‘’I was badly affected by the inferno and I have been thinking about survival as I have dependents. Right now I’m just floating around like a squatter, while seeking solace in God. I wish government will come to our aid,” he said, amidst tears.

On his part, Olatunde Moses, who also suffered losses, blamed the incident on the carefree attitude of some traders. ‘’We were instructed over and over to always switch off electrical appliances which many of us did not obey. I have personally gone round the market to monitor whether people comply with this, but found out that my colleagues are just simply lawless and only government can call them to order,” he posited.

A trader who pleaded anonymity said last Friday’s fire occurred in the inner part of the market around 7.52pm after the closure of the market by 5pm. According to eye witnesses, some of the traders who live close to the market rushed to the scene as soon as the alarm was raised and tried to move some of the vehicles inside the market. By the time they remembered to call fire fighters, it was too late as the fire ravaged and consumed 108 of the vehicles.

Eye witnesses also said the market could not be easily accessed by fire fighters due to the ongoing road construction as well as existing gridlock in the area.

Meantime, the Director, Lagos State Fire Services, Razaq Fadipe, has attributed the incident to power upsurge, while blaming the traders for disobeying instructions given by the fire services on how to prevent such an occurrence. Fadipe said the market leaders were, on three occasions, invited by the fire fighters but none of the instructions given to them was observed. ‘’We were not contacted on time and after putting out the fire, we did enumeration and discovered that about 58 lock up shops and 108 vehicles were burnt.

‘’This is not the first time we’re recording such an occurrence. When I assumed office, we invited them to our office on three occasions to instruct them on how to prevent fire outbreak, but they failed to adhere to our instruction. There have been several fire outbreaks in the market and we told them what they are supposed to do. First of all, we told them of the need to demarcate the stalls according to the type of wares they deal in. Also, proper wiring of that place is important instead of the clustered cables that are usually noticed; we told them about the rudiments of safety, to ensure designated points where fire extinguishers will be hung and provision of hydrant so that the first person to notice the fire outbreak will be able to respond to it.”