An early morning fire on Wednesday destroyed 26 shops at Bariga Market in Lagos, leaving traders counting their losses.
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency confirmed the incident in a statement signed by its Permanent Secretary, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu.
According to him, the agency received a distress call at 4:05 a.m. and immediately deployed emergency responders from its Onipanu base. By the time they arrived at 4:25 a.m., several key-clamp shops were already engulfed in flames.
“The fire started from one of the shops and quickly spread to others because the structures were supported and partitioned with wooden frameworks,” Oke-Osanyintolu explained.
He said the joint effort of LASEMA, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos Response Unit paramedics, and the Nigeria Police prevented the fire from spreading to other sections of the market.
“No lives were lost and no injuries were recorded. However, 26 shops were affected and goods worth millions of naira were destroyed,” he said.
The agency added that damping operations had been completed and the situation brought under control.
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
This latest incident comes less than three weeks after another fire gutted Emab Plaza, a four-storey building behind Mandilas on Taiwo Street, Lagos Island, destroying properties worth millions of naira and sparking panic among traders and residents.
