At least 18 fire incidents have occurred in the last five years in different markets in Kwara State.
LEADERSHIP Friday gathered that the fire outbreaks left anguish and sorrow in their wake due to the destruction caused to property in the affected markets.
The head of the Media and Publicity Department of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, confirmed the market fire outbreaks with statistics.
In the Omu Aran market in the Irepodun local government area, goods worth millions of naira were lost during the fire incidents on 27-03-2020, 13-03-2017 and 23-12-2016.
In Ilorin, the state capital, the Oja Tuntun market witnessed fire incidents on 23-01-2022 and 22-11-2023, and the affected traders languished over their losses.
At the Ipata Oloje market (vehicle spare parts market) in Ilorin, goods estimated to be in the region of millions were burnt on 29-01-2022 and 26-12-2023 during a fire incident.
Also, on 07-01-2020, a fire destroyed goods worth millions of naira at the Olufadi market in the Edun area of Ilorin, while the men of the state fire service could only help reduce the loss with their presence.
Traders in the Ipata market, Ilorin, suffered in the fire incident of 03-06-2021.
In Offa local government area, where we have the ancient Owode market, fires occurred on 02-04-2024, 17-08-2023, 03-03-2022, 06-02-2022, 23-05-202020, 17-03-202020, and 09-10-2018.
The Iyaloja general of Owode market, Offa, Alhaja Idiat Yusuf, said the traders were badly affected economically as goods worth several million naira were lost. “These people have nothing to fall back on due to the losses suffered”.
However, LEADERSHIP Friday gathered that most of these markets and others in the state have no fire service station inside them, except the Mandate Market, Ilorin.
Traders in most markets, especially those in the Ilorin metropolis, have called on the concerned authorities to do more to justify taxes being remitted to the state government’s coffers.
They identified such areas of concern as multiple and high-rate taxation, hygiene and environmental sanitation, and the provision of amenities.
