ABIODUN NEJO
Some traders operating within the premises of Oja Oba market in Ado
Ekiti, Ekiti state capital, have lost property worth about N150
million to an evening inferno that razed their stores.
The affected mall, located in the Post office area of Ado Ekiti, housed stores and shops of about 30 traders.
The building was formerly used by a new generation bank before it was
converted to a market stall for traders.
The traders, operating under the aegis of Ekiti State Youth Traders’ Association, believe that the fire outbreak could not have been as a result of power surge. Rather they suspect it could be arson attack by yet unknown persons.
The embattled traders, in a letter dated June 20 and addressed to the General Manager, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), appealed to the state government for relief materials.
They said help from government and well-meaning Nigerians remained the only way some of them could return to business. Rumour had it that the house must have been attacked by politicians,
because the building belonged to a top politician of PDP extraction in
the State.
Recounting how the incident happened, the Chairman of the Association, Opeyemi Fakayode, said it started at about 7.30 pm when the security guard had already arrived.
He said some of the property could have been salvaged by men of the Fire Services, but for lack of water in the fire fighting tanker, adding
that the other vehicle that could have helped the situation suddenly
developed fault upon arriving the scene.
He said: “None of us was able to salvage a pin from that place. Even
the guard had arrived and was about changing his dresses behind the building when he came back to meet huge smoke coming through the windows.
“We suspect arson because one of the window’s blade had bent,
meaning that someone must have done that for sinister intention. We
suspected that was where they used to set the building on fire.
“It could not have been electrical problem, because our light had been disconnected before the incident. Even the fuse of the generating set we were using collectively was intact and was put on neutral, which we believed could not have sparked fire.
“Some of us just went to market to buy new products to sell when the
incident happened and we may end up having nothing if we have no
help”.
Fakayode added that though they called the state fire
service immediately they received distress calls from the security guards, efforts to salvage part of their wares proved abortive. That was because even the fire fighters were handicapped.
“When the fire fighters came with two tankers, one of them had no
water, while the other one with water could not pump, it became faulty.
“It was after this we called Afe Babalola University, which deployed
its tanker but the property had already been razed down completely before it arrived”, he added.