Traders weep as fire razes auto spare parts market in Ibadan

From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan

Barely two years after the midnight inferno destroyed hundreds of shops at Araromi spare parts market, Agodi Gate, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, another fire outbreak has occurred in a section of the same market.

At least, 27 shops were razed while goods worth over N100 million were said to have been destroyed by the fire, which, according to victims, started around 1:30 am and was eventually put off around 5 am by men of Oyo State Fire Service.

A bigger inferno occurred in the market in the early hours of Saturday, April 3, 2021, during which hundreds of shops were destroyed. The incident then attracted the attention of the state governor, Seyi Makinde, who paid an on-the-spot assessment to the market the same day, held a meeting with the leadership of the market, and also compensated the victims.

But the fresh fire outbreak, according to the victims affected a section of the market, and the quick intervention of fire brigades prevented the fire from spreading to other shops.

General Manager of the State Fire Service Rev Canon Yemi Akinyinka told newsmen on Saturday that the fire was put out around 5 a.m., saying the operatives of the fire service got to the Araromi Market Agodi Gate around 2:30 a.m. He added that preliminary investigation revealed that the fire was caused by indiscriminate refuse burning.

One of the victims, who introduced himself as Wasiu Sanusi, who sells truck tyres, betrayed emotions as he told Sunday Sun: “Some people called me at night that my shop was on fire. I rushed from my house to this market. But on getting to this place, I discovered that my shop has been burnt totally. The worth of goods that I lost to this fire incident is about N50 million. The shops that we have in this section are 26 or 27.”

Another victim of the inferno, Mrs Yetunde Ibikunle, who also betrayed emotions, said: “I received a call around 3 am that my shop was burning. On getting to this place, I discovered that everything was gone. I lost over a million goods to this fire outbreak. In my shop, I had a generator, ice block-making machines, soft drinks and so on. The soft drink that did not burn was not much and I cannot confirm their condition now.

“I use this medium to call on the Oyo State Government to assist us because those of us that were affected lost over N100 million to this inferno. Where do we start again now in this new year? We need assistance.”