LAGOS – Not less than 30 shops have been destroyed in a fire that razed the Abibatu Mogaji Model Market, also known as Iponri Market on Tuesday, March 12, 2014.
Goods worth millions of naira were also lost in the inferno that started around 11pm.
The cause of the fire has not been ascertained but it is suspected that an electric power surge might have triggered the fire. It was gathered that residents in the housing estate near the market were the ones who alerted the state’s fire service when the fire started.
The Managing Director, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, reportedly said the fire was put out around 3am.
“Immediately the fire started, we activated our emergency response plan. Because of the emergency response, we thank God that we did not have any morbidity or mortality associated with this inferno.
“We are still doing the enumeration to count the people who lost their things and the number of shops affected. Investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire, but we were told it was caused by a power surge.”
