91 Shops, 4 offices burnt in Oshodi-Cairo market inferno

Modupe Shodeinde

No fewer than 91 shops and four offices were burnt by fire on Thursday night at a popular fabric market known as `Cairo Market’ in Oshodi, Lagos State.

Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, Director-General of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that the fire started at 8.00 p.m. and lasted for hours.

According to him, the cause of the fire is still unknown as investigations were ongoing.

“We sympathise with those that lost their goods to the fire outbreak. I want to say there were no mortalities and casualties.

“Concerning the cause of the fire, we are looking at it holistically and I assure you we will detect the cause.

“We will continue to key into the vision of the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, which is to ensure safety of lives and property in the state.

“I appeal to all the people of Lagos State to remain calm and rest assured that we are on top of the situation,” he said.

Some of the traders counted their losses and called on the state government for help.

One of them, Alhaja Basirat Adams, told NAN that she had goods worth N1.5 million in her shop before the fire outbreak.

“I am in shock. I have goods worth N1.5 million and I don’t know how to recover the money lost.

“I appeal to Lagos State Government to come to our aid because we lost all our goods here,” she said.

A mother of three, Mrs Kadijat Abayomi, told NAN that she was at home when she heard about the fire.

“I have been in tears since last night because I just collected some goods on credit. To pay back now is a problem.

“This is one of the saddest days of my life and I just hope someone will come to my aid,” she said.

Another trader, Alhaja Karimot Abdul-Kareem, who was being consoled by other traders because of loss of goods worth about N2.5 million, told NAN that she would find it difficult to recover from debts.

Abdul-Kareem appealed to the state government to come to her aid.

A trader, who gave her name simply as Madam Kofo, said she would never forget the incident.

Kofo, who said the goods in her shop were worth over N1.5 million, appealed to the government to come to the aid of all the affected traders.

“COVID-19 had much negative effects on us all. We were trying to pick up only for this to happen.

“I don’t know where to start from,” she said.
(NAN)