Market activities resume at Alade Market after inferno

Market activities resume at Alade Market after inferno
Emeka Ibemere
Serious business activities resumed on Monday April 9, 2013 a day after inferno gutted the popular Bureau De Change and Boutique Market at the ever busy Alade International Market on Allen Avenue in Ikeja Local Government Area, Lagos State.
The popular Market suffered a fire out break when about nine shops in one of the sections of the Market went on flames around 7pm on Sunday, March 7 2013.
 Also razed down were items worth more than N50 million. A female victim who sells women shoes said the fire emanated from one of the shops as balls of smoke was seen going up.
 An official of the National Emergency Management Agency said the fire incident took place on Ward L section of the market. NEMA’s spokesperson, Yushau Shuaib, said in the one-paragraph statement that the extent of damage could have been worse than the present situation if not for the quick intervention of NEMA officials and the Alausa unit of the fire service which quickly respond to the outbreak.

“After fire outbreak this evening, timely arrival of response agencies saved Alade Market on Allen Avenue, Ikeja Lagos. 9 shops affected,” Shuaib stated. One Sanni Musa said the fire began by 7 p.m. and was sparked by power surge.
He said officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, Alausa Division, however raced to the scene shortly after the fire began, saving the market from being reduced to ashes. Traders of the affected shops who rushed to the market on hearing the news made frantic efforts in removing their wares from their shops sensing that the fire could reach to their lines while lamenting and counting their losses.
Alade market has a shape of International Market because its quality items sold at the market and the fact that most of the traders are importers. The market is also popular in Lagos for its Bureau-De-Change activities and boutiques.
Miscreants who wanted to loot some shops were disappointed as the fire didn’t spread to other areas, even as they try to help in putting off the fire. Some shops were destroyed in an attempt to safeguard them before the fire could reach other sections.  Men of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency LASEMA who arrived the scene were said to have cordoned off the affected part in the market, sealing off sixteen other shops in the area.
Director of Lagos State Fire Service, Razaq Fadipe, confirmed how his men battled to put out the fire.
He said, “We got a distress call this evening that Alade Market was on fire. We have deployed a team from Alausa station to the place. Also, a source in the state Emergency Management Agency said LASEMA had mobilised its officials and were at the scene of the inferno to assist in rescue efforts. The state police command spokesman, Ngozi Braide, said policemen had been deployed in the area to prevent looting.
She said, “The Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area is already on the ground. He is leading the effort to ensure that hoodlums did not take advantage of the confusion that the inferno will cause to commit crime.
When Daily Newswatch visited the market on Monday reconstruction work were visibly seen going on at the market. There was not much damage from the fire as earlier reported by the social media and news reports.
A visit to the market betrayed the noise of the inferno as almost all the traders were busy selling their wares as if nothing happened at the market. The section of the market were the inferno occurred were also seen washing the shops as they are ready to carry out repairs on the affected area.  
A lady clerk of one of the affected shops said that she cannot just quantify the worth of their goods for now until her boss is around. She said they were in the church when somebody called her to say that Alade market was burning. According to her, she raced to the scene only to find out that their shop was affected.  “I was speechless and couldn’t do anything. Infact i lost my senses, “She stated.
In the last few months, fire outbreak in Lagos seems to have become daily affair as buildings in public places especially markets have been burnt. It is disturbing phenomenons as no measure seems to be taking by government to arrest the situations. Billions of naira have been lost to the ugly situations.
An investigation by Daily Newswatch shows that most of the infernos are caused by power surge while lack of measures by market Associations also contributes to the problems. It was discovered that some traders would close their shops without putting off electrical appliances, especially when Power Holdings takes light before leaving the market and when there is power, the surge could cause the outbreak of fire that results in destroying the market. According to Agaptus Chibuike, some of the fires are caused by arsonists who may wish to settle scores with a fellow businessman.
Meanwhile, there are fears that the Lagos State Government may take over the Alade market. But some traders said it’s not possible considering the fact that the inferno was not that heavy. On Monday, there was rumour that Lagos State Government said it was going to take over the market but as the rumour was making rounds, the State Government quickly denied the report and said it had no plans to close and take over Alade Market at Allen Junction, Ikeja. It, however, promised to investigate the cause of the inferno and evaluate losses to forestall future occurrence.
 It would be recalled that a five-storey building, located at No 10-12, Breadfruit Street, Lagos Island went up in flames on October 27, 2012, due to spark from one of the electrical switches, killing two persons, while goods worth millions of naira were destroyed.
This was followed by another three-storey cracker warehouse that sparked a major fire outbreak in the Jankara area of Lagos at the close of the year. No fewer than eight multi-storey buildings and several cars were consumed as the raging fire spread to adjoining properties. Recently the Makoko plank market in Lagos also went up in flames and destroyed goods worth millions of Naira.