Fire has gutted the popular Bola Ige International Market, new Gbagi Ibadan, Oyo State destroying shops and fabric materials worth millions of Naira.
It was gathered that the fire outbreak which razed six shops full of different types of fabrics did not claim any life.
The chairman, Bola Ige International Market, Alhaji Ganiyu Adebayo who confirmed the incident, said the fire outbreak began at about 7:00 am, adding that the fire service station at the market was alerted and they responded promptly to put out the inferno.
“I was at home this morning when they called me that there was a fire outbreak at Rashlad and Kudus lines part of the market, I was informed that a woman lit a candle in her shop early this morning and did not put it off and closed the shop.
“The firefighters did very well, they prevented the inferno from spreading to other parts of the market, “ he added.
Also confirming the incident, a member of Market Council of Elders, Alhaji Rasheed Oladepo explained what caused the fire incident, saying “It is not electrical appliances that caused the fire outbreak, according to the reports we got from those that witnessed it.
“They told us that the shop that caused the fire outbreak had opened as early as 7:00am, that the owner of the shop lit a candle for prayers and left it there till it spread out.”
He advised traders in the market to be careful and conscious while they seek spiritual help so as not to affect others, urging them to stop cooking food in their shops in order to prevent fire disasters
Meanwhile, Oyo State government has empathized with traders who lost properties to the fire outbreak.
The Commissioner for Trade, Industry Investment and Cooperatives, Barrister Olasunkanmi Olaleye who visited the scene of the incident with some ministry officials, empathized with the affected traders.
Olaleye who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Bunmi Babalola, thanked God that lives were not lost but was sad that properties were lost to the preventable inferno.
