Lagos fire razes 100 buildings, kills two traders
Two people, identified as Kemi and Azeez, aka Akube, were burnt to death in the inferno.
The duo were said to be asleep and were choked by smoke.
PUNCH Metro gathered that valuables worth millions of naira were destroyed in the fire.
However, the cause of the fire could not be ascertained as there were conflicting accounts.
While residents said the fire started
after a generator exploded in one of the cabins, the Lagos State Fire
Service said the explosion was from a shanty where the occupant was
cooking near a keg filled with petrol.
A resident, who did not identify himself, said the fire created confusion in the community.
He said, “The fire started a few minutes to 3am. We tried our best to put it out, but we couldn’t.
“When we saw the way the fire was spreading, we started salvaging our property.
“The intervention of the fire service, however, minimised the damage.”
Our correspondent observed that the shanties served both residential and commercial purposes.
A part of the cabins also sheltered commercial sex workers.
A trader in the community, Jude Obi,
said he lost goods estimated at N3m, adding that some hoodlums took
advantage of the situation to steal some of his wares.
He said, “I have two cabins here and
they were stocked with different kinds of clothes. When someone raised
the fire alarm, I tried to save my goods.
“Those that I was able to bring out and
put on the road were stolen. I don’t want to remember my loss, because
it brings tears into my eyes. I lost goods worth N3m.”
Another member of the community, who identified himself only as Orioye, said despite their losses, they lived in fear.
“We are in a hopeless situation. We
cannot ask for help from the government or any Nigerian because many
people don’t see us as a part of the society. We are citizens of this
country and we don’t deal in illegal business here,” Orioye said.
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