LAGOS— Fire, Monday night, engulfed five buildings and a sawmill in Oko-Baba area of Ebute-Metta, Lagos, displacing over 5,000 persons.
Property worth millions of Naira were also destroyed in the inferno
The cause of the fire, which started at about 10.30 pm and raged till the early hours of yesterday, could not be ascertained.
However, no casualty was recorded but several persons reportedly sustained injuries in the resultant stampede.
It was gathered that a similar incident occurred in the sawmill and bolt-up buildings last year.
Fire men attacked
Vanguard gathered that officials of the fire service, who arrived the scene to contain the fire, were attacked by some hoodlums, with one of the fire trucks smashed. The attack was said to have delayed the rescue work of the fire fighters.
Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr Rasaq Fadipe, said three fire trucks were deplored to the scene when news of the incident reached them.
On his part, the South-West spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, said: “No casualty was recorded. We could not wait to count the number of houses affected. Except residents give number of houses affected, one cannot estimate. But they were just temporary structures built with planks. The fire consumed five bungalows built with sand concrete, multiple bolt up buildings and sawmill.
“When men of the fire service arrived the scene, hoodlums struggled to take control of the fire fighting, thereby endangering lives but they were resisted and they turned against the firemen.”
…In Somolu
Farinloye also said a three-bedroom flat and a two-storey building at 14, Ayodele Bajulaye, Somolu were also consumed by fire.
LASEMA reacts
General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, who also visited the scene, said: “The fire was put out by the combined effort of the Lagos State Fire Service, LASEMA and the Local Emergency Management Committee of the affected local government area.
“LASEMA and men of the NSCDC are still on ground for assessment and enumeration exercise. Over 1,500 houses made up of shanties were razed by the inferno and also over 5,000 people displaced.
‘Sawmill equipment worth millions of naira were burnt. The equipment included spindle, saw machine, band saw, circular saw and generating machine.”
He appealed to the public to be careful in handling electrical appliances and learn to quickly send alert if there is an emergency.
Victims’ account
When Vanguard visited the scene, yesterday, some lucky victims were busy gathering their personal effects while the unlucky ones were lamenting their plights.
Although, thousands of people were affected by the inferno but the sawmillers told Vanguard they lost several equipment worth billions of Naira to the inferno.
The sawmillers, who spoke through their vice chairman, Mr Kedus Okoye, said many of them had closed for the day’s business before the inferno.
According to the vice chairman, “the sawmill exists about 70 years ago but some retirees among us have sublet their shops and they have converted them to residential buildings.
One of the residents, who gave his name as Afeez, said: “I only moved in about three months ago after a friend moved out. I paid N60,000 for one year. Now, everything is gone and I do not have any place to go.
Another, a father of three, who identified himself as Donatus Mgbeje, said: “I have been living here with my wife and three children for three years and I have witnessed this type of incident twice.
“The last one occurred last year during rainny season. No one can tell what caused that of last year and this one.
“Anytime it happens, we will begin to build again because we cannot afford money to rent accommodation elsewhere. We live like every other Lagosian here, the only difference is that while others live in concrete buildings, we live in makeshift buildings.”
But some of the residents, who spoke to Vanguard on phone said the fire could have been caused by a lit candle.
“This is not the first time an inferno will occur in this place but it is usually traced to the residential areas who refuse to understand that residential homes are not built near a sawmill. We want the government to come to our aid.”
One of the saw-millers,a 53-year-old Chief Mone Titus, who was mostly hit by the inferno, was speechless when Vanguard visited to the area.
The indigene of Oyo State said: “I have been running the sawmill for the past 28 years and have invested alot. I lost a 180KV generating set, a complete sawmill and offices to the inferno.
“We need urgent steps to restore the sawmill. I have three undergraduates and many dependants, how will I feed them? This incident has thrown me back to square one.”
Another victim, 43-year-old Jude Nnamani, said he also lost millions of naira to the inferno.
He said: “My lines were switched off throughout the night and as soon as they were on, the bad news came and I rushed to the scene to watch my source of livelihood being razed. I am finished, where else will I go?
To 57-year-old Mrs Anthony Umeh, the inferno has caused a lot of damage to her family.
“My husband brought me here in the 70s but he is no longer regular here due to old age. With the present development, do you think I can feed the family? I lost saw-dusters and several engines to the inferno,” she said.
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