Property worth millions of naira were also lost to the fire, which also
consumed a relaxation spot.
The incident which was attributed to a power surge, occurred at about 1.20am
when the traders had retired from the day's business.
The prompt response of the state emergency responders was said to have
prevented the fire from escalating.
A mild drama ensued at the scene as some of the victims blamed their woes
on the non-challant attitude of personnel of Ikeja Distribution Company who
supplies electricity to the market.
According to the traders, the company failed to respond to a distress call until
the situation almost got out of hand.
"Before going home on Tuesday, there was high voltage which affected
electrical appliances such as bulbs, fans and sockets, a signal that havoc will
soon be recorded but the distribution company turned deaf ears to this.
''The office of the electricity supplier is very close to the market
and we called
their emergency number asking them to switch off the panel leading to the
market but there was no response until the fire escalated and almost spread
to their office," chorused the traders.
It was learned that 25 of the 80 shops in that section of the market, two
warehouses and a relaxation spot were razed by the inferno.
Some of the shop owners were seen counting their losses when this reporter
visited the scene.
In spite of the presence of law enforcement agents, some scavengers were
seen carting away some recovered items immediately after the fire was put
out by emergency responders.
Eyewitnesses' account said there was power failure in the market for a period
of three days and a high voltage was noticed when the power was restored on
Tuesday which eventually gave rise to the surge.
An eyewitness, Austin Daniel, said he received a distress call at about 1.25am
and quickly rushed to the scene.
"I was confused when I got a distress call thinking it was a small matter and I
rushed to the scene with two buckets of water but it dawned on me that it was
not a child's play when I got to the scene.
''Anyway, credit goes to the fire services who were readily on ground before
me and many other shops were saved," he said.
A combined team of policemen from Sagamu Division, Nigeria Security, Civil
Defense Corps and Lagos State Emergency Management Agency were on
ground at the time of Vanguard's visit.
Some of the traders were seen putting calls to their relatives, intimating them
about the development.
One of the affected victims simply identified as Sunday,who deals on
provision, said he did not believe the inferno could spread to his shop.
"I thought I was coming to sympathise with others but I was shocked to
discover that my shops were among the affected shops," he lamented.
Another victim, Peter Mmahi, said he lost items which monetary value he
could not immediately quantify.
Efforts to reach the distribution company proved abortive as the officials could
not be reached at press time.
Lagos State Fire Services confirmed that 25 shops and two ware houses were
affected, and urged traders to switch off all electrical apparatus at
the close of
business daily.
