The losses that traders of the
Labaowo International Market,
Ibadan suffered in an inferno
that gutted the market on
Wednesday cannot be forgotten
in a hurry. Within minutes that the fire
started, their means of livelihood
were consumed. Over 300
hundred shops with property
worth one billion were
destroyed. Painfully, some of the traders just got some loans from
banks and co-operatives to
boost their businesses. Though no life was lost, some of
the traders would have chosen
death as an option if they knew
that the inferno would consume
all they had. The fire started some minutes
past 10 a.m. when the gum that a
girl was trying to sell to her
customers attracted fire from a
nearby shop where another
woman was cooking. Before they knew what was happening, the
shops were on fire which later
engulfed five buildings that
house over 300 shops in the
densely populated market. Alarm was raised immediately,
but owing to the distance and
inaccessibility to the spot, help
could not come on time from the
Oyo State Fire Service and other
companies in the area. As at 3.05 p.m. when Sunday
Vanguard visited the market,
billows of suffocating smoke still
enveloped the market. Traders
were running helter-skelter.
Some of the traders who were lucky to retrieve some of their
wares from the fire stood on
guard to prevent hoodlums
loitering the area from causing
further damage. A woman who could still not
comprehend how fate could be
so cruel to her declined to make
comments even when one of the
leaders of the market
introduced our correspondent. She merely shook her head and
turned back. Another affected trader, Mr.
Taiwo Olabode, was stunned to
speechlessness when Sunday
Vanguard visited him. He was
trying to mutter some words, his
lips were moving but no word came out. When next he tried, it
was tears that streamed down
his face. The president of the market,
Alhaji Lukman Alaka, told our
correspondent that items such
as electronics, motor spare
parts, generator spare parts,
building materials and many others were lost to the fire
incident. He said, “the fire started some
minutes past 10 this morning
(Wednesday). Five buildings with
over 300 shops were burnt. You
too can see the damage caused
by the fire. When asked what caused the
fire, Alaka said a girl was selling
gum to her customer and it
caught fire because a woman
was cooking very close to her.
“Suddenly, we saw balls of smoke accompanied by fire. We called all the Fire Stations
close to us, but, the response
was not immediate. I called
Challenge fire station and
another one at Mapo. When I
noticed that they were not forthcoming, I had to go to
Mapo on Okada before help
could come. But, before we got
back to the market, the fire had
gone out of hand”, he said. “On the property lost, it can’t be
less than one billion. Many
traders were affected. Some
could not even retrieve any item
from their shops. The Fire Service
came but it was too late. We would be happy if the
government can provide a Fire
Station for us here.”, he lamented. The market traders leader
complained that when fire
gutted the market about three
years ago, the government sent
its officials who came promising
heaven and earth, but nothing came. According to him, the only help
that the Governor Abiola
Ajimobi-led administration can
do for them is to give them a fire
station in the market. Mr. Sikiru Olayiwola, the leader of
the legislative arm of the market,
said it was a pity that successive
governments in the Oyo
neglected them because they
were not civil servants. “Governor Ajimobi should help
those of us who are not civil
servants too. They should let us
have a sense of belonging and
give us opportunity to enjoy in
this administration too. If they don’t want these people to die,
they should do something very
urgently”, he said. One of the victims, Sarafa, an Eletrical part seller whose shop was gutted by fire. Pix by Dare Fasube He ruled out any suspicion that
somebody somewhere could be
responsible for the incident,
pointing out that the fire that
gutted the market three years
ago ignited when a spark of fire landed on mattresses. “As for this one, it happened
during the day time. We all saw
how it started. So, I don’t
suspect any foul play from
anybody. Another affected trader, Mr.
Tijani Amoo, who sells fan belt
and bearing in the market,
explained that he just collected
a bank loan worth N800,000 to
buy wares. “Most of us in this market collect
bank and co-operative loans. I
just collected N800,000 and used
it to stock my shop. Tell me, how
can I pay back the loan now? Oh
God!, he stated. Amoo said he lost all the items.
Though, he was not far away
from the scene of the fire, by the
time he knew, smoke had covered
my shop and then fire. Muniru Lasisi, who sells
generator spare parts, he said
he lost goods worth two million,
while Babatunde Olusegun, who
lives at Ogbere Oriyangi, Ibadan,
said his motor spare parts estimated at N500,000 were
destroyed. Also, Femi Akinlabi, motor spare
parts seller, said the girl that
was selling gum was injured in
the fire incident and had been
rushed to hospital. He claimed he took a bank loan
of N400,000 and estimated his
losses at over N600,000 because
he had some goods before he
took the loan. The Director of State Fire Service,
Engineer Kareem Oyekunle, said
his men were still battling the fire
as at 3. 56 p.m. but was hopeful
that the fire would be put out.
His response contradicted that of the market leader, noting as
soon as the distress call came, he
and his officials rushed to the
scene.
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/r-e-v-e-a-l-e-d-how-hawker-set-ibadan-market-ablaze/