One person was injured while about 50 shops were razed on Tuesday as fire razed Bodija plank market, Ibadan North local government area of Oyo.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that the cause of the fire which began on Tuesday evening is still unknown while the fire consumed a section of the plank market.
While the fire was said to be eventually put off by the combined effort of fire servicemen from both the federal and state governments.
Narrating his ordeal, the injured victim of the incident, Ahmed Abdulwasiu is currently receiving treatment at Calvary Baptist Hospital, Bodija, Ibadan.
Abdulwasiu said he was trying to quench the fire in his shop before he was trapped in the inferno, saying he would have died if not for the quick intervention of people who came to his rescue.
“I was trying to pour water to stop the fire through the roof, before entering the shop, I only see the flames unknowing to me that the fire is already inside, the roof came on me and I was trapped inside the shop, no escaped route for me, I was just rolling and the fire was following me before people come to rescue.”
Another victim, Mutiu Olaoluwa who is a furniture said, “I was outside my shop when I suddenly heard the fire upsurge, before I know it, the fire has spread to two shops, the fire started spreading, the flames covered everywhere, I couldn’t take anything out, over 75 doors belonging to my customer was burnt, my N120,000 plank was also burnt”.
“I lost over N5 million to the fire because all my equipment, generator, and machines were burnt, all I have been labouring for the past 30 to 40 years was burnt,” he added.
Also speaking, Adeniyi Ogunmola said, “I was here yesterday around 4:30 pm, the fire started from a carpenter shop behind my shop, I went there to see what is going on, on my way back to my shop to carry my equipment, the fire came to my shop in less than five minutes.”
“If not for people that carried me out of the fire, I would have died by now, I just came back from market where I loaded full trailer of plank, I lost about N6 million goods to the incident.”
The victims however called on government to come to their aides and give them succor so as to save their businesses from total collapse as a result of debt incurred by the unfortunate incident.
