These are
not the best of times, and would surely be a sour yuletide for some
traders at the Lagos International Trade complex located along Badagry
Expressway. This is because of a fire outbreak that destroyed goods and
property worth over 100 million naira yesterday morning.
The inferno Sunday Sun gathered raged on
for an hour affecting the Association of Progressive Traders (APT)
Article Line, Block One section of the complex.
According eyewitnesses, the fire which
started at about 3am, was ignited from the seething heat emanating from
an incinerator sparked off fire from a nearby truck said to be fully
loaded with perfumes and other combustible goods. The fully loaded truck
was billed to travel to Onitsha before it caught fire. The
conflagration then further razed more goods and some nearby shops till
the intervention of the officials of the Lagos State Emergency
Management Agency (LASEMA).
The fire reportedly took close to 20
hours before it was put off, because it was fuelled by many inflammable
materials like perfume, hair products, fire crackers, gas cylinders,
vehicle parts and other combustible items.
One of the affected traders that
identified himself as Darlington told newsmen that he lost goods worth
10 million Naira, plus N500, 000 Naira cash. He disclosed that he sells
local and imported perfumes and is still in shock at his loss. “I just
don’t know where to start from,” he cried to newsmen.
Other infuriated traders while also
counting loses lampooned their market union leadership accusing them of
negligence and poor environmental practices. However, C.N Okosa a former
secretary of the APT absolved the union off the blames. According to
him the inferno was caused because of improper way the inflammable
materials were packed inside the truck.
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