Fashola promises to help victim of Balogun Market fire

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday condoled with the victims of the fire outbreak at the Balogun Market on the Lagos Island, promising to rebuild the structures.

Fashola, who spoke during a visit to the market, said he was happy that no life was lost in the incident.

Before his arrival, governorship candidates of the All Progressives Congress, Akinwunmi Ambode, and his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party, Jimi Agbaje, had equally visited to condole with the traders on their losses.

Goods estimated at billions of naira were lost after a midnight fire ravaged the market on Monday.

During the governor’s visit, he called for the owners of the affected buildings, who were said to be unavailable.

Fashola promised to rebuild the structures and help the traders get back on their feet.

He said, “This is a very sad incident and I sympathise with you, especially women trying to earn a living to keep body and soul together. Be assured that our government will stand by you. We will help you to get back on your feet.

“We need to know the number of people working here. We need to have a clear description of what businesses they are doing and the value. Once we authenticate and verify these, we assure you that this government will come to your aid.”

The governor, however, cautioned the traders against wrongful use of electrical gadgets and illegal electricity connections, saying they could trigger fire easily during the harmattan season.

Fashola also advised that residents of the state should learn to switch off electrical appliances when not in use and after closing from their offices.

He said, “I appeal to Lagosians that this is the dry season. In this state, we have two seasons ─ the rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season is when we battle with flooding, which we have contained successfully.

“Now, this is the dry season when we have the risk of fire. We must be interested in our personal safety and security. Stop storing inflammable materials in your homes and shops. Try to switch off all appliances that are not in use. The harmattan season makes fire easy to start, but hard to stop. Yesterday, the state dealt with 18 fire outbreaks. We want to prevent fire, we don’t want to continue to fight fire.”

Earlier, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency boss, Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the agency noticed that the traders were not fire conscious.

He said the agency would work with the state building control agency to know how to bring down buildings which had been structurally deficient.

The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe, who condemned the raising of illegal structures in the market, said the agency was disturbed by a crowd which prevented it from carrying out its duties.

This item originally appeared on Punch news