One person was reported injured, while not less than 50 shops were razed in a fire incident that occurred at Bodija plank market on Tuesday night at Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The injured victim, Ahmed Abdulwasiu, is currently receiving treatment at Calvary Baptist Hospital, Bodija, Ibadan.
While narrating his ordeal, Abdulwasiu said, he was trying to quench the fire in his shop before he was trapped, saying he would have died if not for quick intervention of rescuers.
Another victim, Mutiu Olaoluwa, a furniture trader, said: “I was outside my shop when i suddenly heard the fire upsurge. Before I knew it, the flames covered everywhere. I couldn’t take anything out. Over 75 doors belonging to my customer were burnt. My N120,000 plank was also burnt.”
“I lost over N5 million to the fire because all my equipment, generator and machines were burnt. All I have been labouring for the past 30 to 40 years was burnt.”
Adeniyi Ogunmola, who is also a victim said: “I was here yesterday around 4:30 pm, the fire started from a carpenter shop behind my shop, I went there to see what was going on, on my way back to my shop to carry my equipment, the fire came to my shop in less than five minutes.”
“If not for people that carried me out of the fire, I would have died by now, I just came back from the market where I loaded a full trailer of plank, I lost about N6 million goods to the incident.”
The victims called on the government to come to their aid. Below are more photos from the scene?