Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Goods worth hundreds of thousands of naira were on Thursday morning razed by fire in three shops at Wondo Corner, Agboole Olorode, First Gbagi-Ogunpa Market, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The fire was said to have started at about 7:30am and completely burnt two of the three shops to ashes, while the third shop was partially burnt.
The fire disaster was reportedly caused by high voltage of electricity supply to the area, which was said to have led to a spark.
In a chat with journalists, the Deputy- Director, Oyo State Fire Service, Mr. Adewuyi Moshood, said the timely response of fire brigades to the distress call notifying them of the fire outbreak prevented the inferno from spreading to other neighbouring shops.
Meanwhile, operators of the affected shops have started counting their losses. One of them, Mr. Sunday Emeka, said the goods that were destroyed by the fire in his shop was worth over N25,000.
Another victim, Mr. Lawal Tunde, who is a generator repairer, stated that the generators, spare parts and other property destroyed by the fire in his shop was in the region of N500,000.
A tailor, Miss Esther Kolapo, who lost two sewing machines and some customers’ clothes to the fire disaster lamented that she has no hope of surviving because the fire outbreak had destroyed her means of livelihood.
Though no life was lost, the victims have, however, appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde and the Oyo State government to assist them to restart their businesses because they had nothing left to survive with in the year 2020.