Traders at the popular Bodija Plank market, Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, yesterday, counted their losses, following the fire that gutted the market on Tuesday.
Some of them, who spoke to The Guardian, said about 50 shops were affected, while goods and machines worth over N100 million were destroyed.
According to victims, apart from the material loss, one person was injured in the fire that started at about 4:00p.m.
Narrating the incident, a trader, Shina Lekan, said the fire was aided by a strong wind when it was about to rain.
Akande and Lawal Abdul-Azeez, who sell furniture, said the fire started from their shop, and they lost everything.
Another victim, Mutiu Olaoluwa, said over 75 doors belonging to his customer and planks worth over N120,000 were burnt.
He said: “I lost over N5 million to the fire because all my equipment, generator, and machines were burnt. All I have been labouring for in the past 30 to 40 years was burnt.”
An eyewitness, Adeniyi Ogunmola, said: “The fire started from a carpenter’s shop behind my shop. I went there to see what was going on and in an attempt to salvage some of my equipment; the fire came to my shop in less than five minutes.
“If not that I was carried me out of the fire, I would have died by now. I just came back from the market where I bought a full trailer of plank, I lost about N6 million goods to the incident.”
A victim, Ahmed Abdulwasiu, who is currently receiving treatment at Calvary Baptist Hospital, Bodija, Ibadan, said he was trying to put out the fire before he was trapped.
“ I would have died but for the quick intervention of the people, who came to my rescue.
“I was trying to pour water to stop the fire through the roof, before entering the shop. I only saw the flames, unknowing to me that the fire is already inside, the roof came on me and I was trapped inside the shop, no escaped route for me. I was just rolling on the ground, caught by the fire, before people came to my rescue.”
Speaking with newsmen at the scene, chairman of the Oyo State Plank Sellers’ Association, Waliyu Aderoju, expressed sadness over the incident and called for government’s assistance,
He said the total cost of damage cannot yet be ascertained, but no building material was spared in the affected areas.
