No fewer than 17 shops were destroyed after an early morning fire swept through Sabo Market in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State on Tuesday.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) said the fire broke out at about 1:10 a.m. but was contained before it spread to other sections of the market.
LASEMA spokesperson Olawale Afolabi, in a statement, said preliminary investigations showed the blaze started in one of the shops before spreading to adjoining stalls.
He said: “The immediate cause is suspected to be an electrical surge, as the outbreak reportedly occurred while the power supply was active.”
According to Afolabi, emergency responders from LASEMA and the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service immediately commenced firefighting operations, preventing the incident from escalating into a larger disaster.
A post-incident assessment revealed that 17 of the 32 shops in the affected section of the market were damaged.
Provisions, groceries, foodstuffs and other merchandise were destroyed in the fire.
Afolabi said: “Fortunately, no loss of life or injuries were recorded.
“The remaining shops within the affected row, as well as adjoining shops in the market, were largely salvaged due to the timely response of emergency teams.”
He added: “Recovery operations have now been successfully concluded, and the LASEMA Response Team has returned to base.”
Commending the emergency responders, the Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, urged market leaders, traders and residents to prioritise electrical safety by ensuring proper wiring of shops, avoiding overloading electrical appliances and carrying out regular inspections of electrical installations.
He also advised residents to promptly report emergencies through the state’s toll-free emergency lines, 112 and 767.
The latest incident came barely three days after a three-storey residential building was gutted by fire in the Ikosi area of Lagos State.
No lives were lost in that incident, according to LASEMA.
