Man 72 roasted on sick bed during Lagos fire another demands ‘How does Fashola compensate me after losing three siblings in Lagos fire?’

Mrs Gladys Ogoo Ezenwanne was on her way to her shop on Monday when she eavesdropped on a conversation by the driver of the commercial bus and his conductor lamenting that the popular Balogun Market, Lagos was on fire.

She alighted from the bus and headed straight to her shop located on number 50 but before she got there, she noticed thick smoke from afar. Her shop and many others were on fire.

Upon her arrival, she saw a mammoth crowd, fire fighters and other emergency responders. At the end of the operation, six buildings housing about 100 shops were razed in the inferno which was said to have started around 3am of that fateful day.

Recounting her loss, the trader said she lost goods worth N3m and cash of $4,500 and N180,000 respectively.

Gladys was not the only victim of the inferno Mrs Queen Ogan Iwu, who lost wares worth about N30m, said she received the news of the inferno with shock.

The owner of a warehouse and two shops on the ground floor of Okk Plaza said the apartments were filled up at the time of the inferno. “My warehouse was on the ground floor of Okk Plaza and the fire affected my shops and the warehouse. At the end of the day, I lost about N30m. Our order came after the Christmas and I instructed my boys to keep them till January unknown to me that the inferno would occur,” she stated.

Recounting her loss to Sunday Vanguard, she said, ‘’I just returned from the village when the incident happened but I thank God no life was lost. Will I kill myself? As long as I am alive and in good health, God will surely send a helper to me.”

Also lamenting her loss was Madam Ofune Patricia who lost about N6m to the inferno. ‘’Where do I start from? I obtained a bank loan in November thinking that all will be well but the reverse is the case,”she said.

The Balogun inferno was not the only one which took place in Lagos in the past one week as fire also wreaked havoc at Okobaba sawmill and about eight buildings in the area.

The fire, which started from one of the residential buildings in the area, consumed property worth millions of Naira and claimed five people including children and an adult.

Tears flowed freely in the area during a visit, as sympathizers thronged Down Jebba, Kano and Cole streets, the scene of the incident which rendered hundreds of people homeless in the night of Sunday.

Three of the victims, two boys and a girl, were said to be the only children of their parents and were last seen around 8pm, before they got burnt.

The other two victims were a 72-year-old man, popularly called Baba Dende, and said to be on his sick bed, and his three-year-old boy-Akeem.

The three children, Amidat, Quayub and Ahmed, together with their parents, were occupants of one of the shanties on Jebba Street before their untimely death. Their mother, said to be about 25 years of age, was away to Ikate when disaster struck; she was alerted on phone.

When scene was visited, hundreds of the victims were seen counting their losses while scavengers were also having a field day as items like sawmills, viewing centres, sawing and plane machines, saw dusters and generate sets  were reduced to ashes.

The mother of the three roasted children was said to have been taken away by her parents while the father was resting in one of the shanties belonging to their paternal grandmother who was short of words when this reporter approached her.

In an emotional laden voice, the 65-year-old grandmother, who simply gave her name as Simbiat, said the children were with her till 7.30 pm last Sunday.   ‘’Amidat and her siblings were all with me till about 7.30pm before they left for their home. They were playing with other children and they asked me to prepare their dinner which they took home. My aged mother had only two children and we were very happy to see my grandchildren in the family. Also, my aged mother was sick and I brought her here ten days ago unknown that she would witness this tragedy. Please, I don’t want our pictures on the pages of newspaper or how much will Fashola donate to us that will be commensurate with these children?”, she said. Another victim, Damilare Yusuf, who operated a viewing centre on Jebba Street, said he lost items worth N4m to the inferno.

Also, a sawmiller, Madam Hamzat Bisola, said she lost equipment worth N7m while 40-year-old Akindele Aremo lost about N10m equipment to the inferno.

In a telephone conversation, Iyaloja General Madam Folashade Tinubu Ojo called on traders to get rid of generating sets in the markets and urged them to ensure all electrical appliances are put off after the day’s work.

‘We are in season of fire’

Meanwhile, the Director, Lagos State Fire Services, Razaq Fadipe, who lamented that recurring fire outbreaks in the state are mostly caused by human error, warned people to discourage burning of refuse, careless handling of electrical appliances or dropping of cigarette stump.   ‘’We are in the season of fire; the overall assessment of fire outbreaks in the state showed they are caused by human errors. We need to be very careful while handling fire this time around knowing that cleaning, cleansing and repair of affected areas cost money. Also, community development areas should discuss fire safety in homes, religious organizations, places of work and other public and private places. It is a pity that CDAs usually discuss security issues but pay little or no attention to safety,” Fadipe said.

Written By Bose Adelaja of Vanguard