Fire Guts Locked Up Shops In Akure, As Victims Cry Out For Govt Assistance

By Niyi Olutunde, Akure

Huge losses befell traders at the rate section of Akure South Local Government Secretariat, beside Deji of Akure palace, Akure as fire gutted the facilities on Thursday.

Fire Incidence (Not the real photo)

CityMirrorNews gathered that no fewer than 100 lock up shops were destroyed by fire in the area.

It was further gathered that fire broke out from one of the shop around 1am and spread to the other shops.

One of the shop owner who spoke with our Correspondent, Ojo Owoeye said he received a call around 1am that their shops was burning, saying that he immediately rushed to the place and seen the fire incident.

Owoeye said the inferno happened as a result of power surge saying that his property worth 2.5million.

Speaking on the fire incident, the Youth leader of Akure community, Comrade Tuyi Adekambi said, “the inferno started around 1am as a result of power surge. The most annoying part of it is that maybe we have functioning fire service in the state, the inferno wouldn’t have got to this extent.

“For almost 3 hours the fire service couldn’t get to the place of fire incident and it was the services of Airport authority fire brigage service that come to rescue the situation on else the inferno would get to the Deji’s place.

“Many people have been in hospital, they got collapsed when they got here.

“Government should be in position to purchase vehicles for the fire service for each senatorial districts in the state in order to use it for the comfort of the people.

“My call to the state government is that they should not come here and make promises that would not be fulfil, they should make promise and fulfil it to those that the fire affected their shops.

“Government should purchase fire service vehicle for each senatorial districts and fueling it always in case of any inferno in the state”.

The inferno was said to have been curtailed by men of the Airport authority fire brigage service.

It was gathered that computer accessories and provision stores were affected in the incident.

As the fire was put out around 1am, a distress call was said to have been sent to the state fire brigage service but no response from them.

The President, Association of Office Documents and Computers, Akure, Mrs Elizabeth Orogun while speaking with journalists described the fire incident as unfortunate and called on the state government to come to their aids.

“Over 100 shops were destroyed. Computers, generators, photocopying machine, camera, cloths among other items were destroyed following the inferno.

Mrs Orogun who lamented that they could not salvage anything from the rubble. Saying “no one could tell where the fire started from”.

Her words, “pertaining to what I heard, there was light around 12:30am maybe the light is too high I don’t know but we heard that something spark after that the place started burning.

“When people around here raise alarm to the fire service, they said they don’t have fuel in their vehicle and we have not less than 100 shops that were destroyed by the fire incident.

“Government should please come to our aids because some of us have children at the University and we have no other means of getting money, all what we have had gutted by fire”.