About 300 shops were destroyed by an early Monday morning fire at the popular Oranya Market in Ibadan North-East Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to The PUNCH, the fire affected retail shops in the market, including those belonging to gold sellers, furniture dealers and second-hand clothes sellers.
A trader, simply identified as Iya Alia, said, “The fire started around midnight. I cannot be specific about that time. And those affected were gold sellers, furniture sellers, second-hand clothes sellers and many others. The shops affected were almost 300”.
Another eyewitness, who did not want his name in print, said, “This is devastating. This is huge. I don’t even know how to explain it. Close to 300 shops were destroyed” .
The Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Fire Reforms and State Chairman of Fire Services, Morof Akinwande also confirmed the incident .
“Yes, it occurred. That number we cannot ascertain, but what is known is that some shops were destroyed and the fire incident started in the middle of the market with an explosion. Whether it’s a gas explosion or other things. And when you have a gas explosion, it would spread, but as I am talking to you, the situation has been under control since 1 am,” Akinwande said .
“On the number of shops and inventory, that is too early because that’s post-fire outbreak investigation. So, I cannot be accurate about the number of shops that were destroyed. But shops were actually gone,” he added .
It will also be recalled that a fire incident on Saturday, August 22, 2026, razed nine locked-up shops at the Nigerian Railway shopping complex, located along the popular Aleshinloye Market in Ibadan South-West Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to reports, the inferno destroyed goods, household items, and other properties worth millions of naira.
It was further gathered that the fire started around 5 am on Saturday and caused damage before firefighters were alerted.
One of the affected traders, Busari Olayemi, told newsmen that people living around Quarters 4 alerted the shop owners to the fire around 6 am.
Olayemi, who runs an interior decoration business with his partner, Adebola Adeniyi, said, “The fire destroyed products worth about N21 million, including window blinds, curtain fabrics, industrial sewing machines and other equipment” .
“What happened here destroyed a lot of things. Our customers’ fabrics were burnt; you can see them over there. Our industrial sewing machines and tools were burnt right there,” one of the affected shop owners lamented .
