Fire guts Tejuosho market in Lagos
- Seven feared dead in Enugu pipeline inferno
By Regina Akpabio, Oluseye Olumide, Lekan Okusan and Abiodun Eniafe (Lagos) and Lawrence Njoku (Enugu)
HUNDREDS of traders in Lagos yesterday wailed uncontrollably as they beheld a section of the popular Tejuosho Market being consumed by an early morning inferno.
In Enugu State, seven people were also yesterday feared dead in another fire incident caused by a vandalised petroleum pipeline.
Although the source of the Tejuosho fire had not been ascertained as at press time, some of the traders said that it started shortly after midnight. Efforts to nip it in the bud were frustrated by the conglomeration of stalls erected at the former parking space of the market making it impossible for fire fighters and volunteers to penetrate.
Traders, mainly women, were giving vent to their emotions in different forms. While some were so demonstrative and were being held by sympathisers as they cried uncontrollably, the others wept quietly. Some others were stoic in their grief.
When The Guardian vis`ited the scene, the fire was still smouldering and traders were seen consoling themselves while discussing the fate that might befall the market.
Four blocks with more than 100 lock-up stalls harbouring textile traders and cosmetic sellers were razed by the fire.
No life was reportedly lost but about 30 people, mostly traders, who were said to have sustained varying degrees of injuries were promptly treated by a team of medical personal, led by the Head of the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), Dr. Oke Osanyintolu. Osanyintolu said one of the wounded, who was in a critical condition had been transferred to the General Hospital, Ikeja, for further treatment.
The Lagos State Director of Fire Service, Mr. Ola Okunbanjo, who arrived at the scene at about 9.30 a.m. to control the operations, according to agency reports said that the cause of the fire would be determined later through proper investigation.
The market was cordoned off by armed policemen, who, assisted by members of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) Brigade, took positions in strategic locations within and around the vicinity to prevent miscreants from looting shops.
Agbani, the hometown of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu State, was thrown into mourning as about seven persons were severely burnt in a fire that resulted from a vandalised pipeline.
The petroleum pipelines from Port Harcourt to Enugu were vandalised at kilometre 190.5 in Ogbeke Agbani, Nkanu West Local Government Area, by unknown persons on Wednesday night.
Witnesses said that the vandals scooped fuel into petroleum tankers through a valve drilled into the pipeline.
The Guardian learnt that shortly after the vandals left the scene, fuel continued to flow from the valve until the entire area was flooded, thereby attracting residents who began to scoop fuel till the early hours of yesterday.
Trouble started however when one of them, described as a palm-wine taper, arrived at the scene with a lantern in a bid to participate in the illegal activity.
A deafening explosion followed as the fuel caught fire. All the people within the vicinity, whose bodies were soaked with fuel, were severely burnt by the fire, which raged until press time yesterday.
A witness who narrated the incident to The Guardian at noon in Agbani said: "We live very close to the place, but I did not go there because I have heard how dangerous fetching fuel from such pipelines could be. I decided to stay away. But some of our people went there and fetched fuel throughout last night after they discovered that petrol was flowing from the pipeline. But towards the early hours of this morning, we started hearing people screaming from the area ...
"When we rushed to the place, we discovered that several people were burnt and sympathisers helped and conveyed them to hospitals within Agbani..."
At Agbani General Hospital where some of the victims were taken to, a staff told reporters that two persons, a man and his son, were brought to the hospital with high-degree burns, but were later transferred to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, where their case could be properly handled.
"They were badly burnt and we could not handle the case here, so we referred them to the Orthopaedic hospital. We could not admit more victims here because we don't have the necessary facility," he said.
It was not possible to ascertain the number of the victims taken to the Orthopaedic Hospital as officials of the hospital refused to comment on the matter.
The Chief Medical Director, Dr. Uche Achebe, could not be reached as he was said to have travelled out of Enugu.
The Maintenance Officer of the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Emene Depot, Mr. B. A. Olotona, who led a team of engineers to the scene of the fire to put it out, told reporters that report of the incident got to the depot Thursday morning and they quickly mobilised their officials to the area. He said they had difficulty putting out the fire because of the nature of the vandalisation.
"We have quenched worse fire than this but we have not been able to control this because of the valve which they used to drain the fuel. The damage has been done before we got the information. What they do initially is to cut the line and allow the products to waste. But now after collecting the products, they put fire. That is the new thing we are experiencing now. We believe that the fire is an intentional act," he said.
Following reports of the incident, he added, the NNPC in Port Harcourt stopped pumping fuel through the pipeline at about 2 am yesterday but the product continued to flow through the valve used by the vandals thus making it difficult for the engineers to put out the fire.
"The thing is going to affect everybody in terms of fuel supply because until we are able to quench the fire and do the repairs, there will be no supply to Enugu Depot and beyond. NNPC and everybody will be losing because if the products are available in town, prices will come down and everybody will be able to do his own business. Supply has been stopped since 2 am this morning,' Olotona added.
The PPMC official could not confirm the number of victims or the arrest of anybody in connection with the incident.
Two mobile policemen were seen with officials of the corporation and fire fighters from the Enugu State Fire Service making frantic efforts to put out the inferno but their efforts were not yielding dividends
Reacting to the Tejuosho fire, some of the traders alleged the fire might have started from electrical appliances when the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) restored power in the early hours of yesterday.
A trader, Mrs. Blessing Nwachukwu said: "The whole of Wednesday, there was power outrage. I am sure the fire must have started when they brought back the light".
A trader, Imo Ndah whose shop was affected by the fire said they had already removed all their wares before the fire reached their shop. "My friend called me on phone and we raced down to the market. On getting there at about 7.00 a.m., the security refused us entry. I gained entrance through a small opening. Those people who came with their keys were helped to evacuate their goods before the fire reached their area".
A fire fighter, who pleaded anonymity, said: "They came but could not do much due to the nature of the Market. "The way the shops are erected, we could not gain entrance into the Market", he said.
A trader in one of the burnt shops, Mr. John Asinta from Abia State said: "I got here at about 9.00 a.m. and I was told that the fire started at about 3.00 a.m. But the firemen could not have access to the scene because of shops that were built by the local council at the market motor park. I could not pick anything from my shops as everything was burnt."
The president of the market association, Alhaja Sherifat Lawal, lamented the havoc caused by the fire to the market, saying that the total value of goods lost could not be ascertained yet.
"I got a call that the market is burning around 3.30 a.m. and I then called the local council chairman to call Governor Bola Tinubu. I asked him to call the fire fighters too. I got to the market about 4.00 a.m. and saw that the whole place had been burnt beyond recognition. I noticed that when the fire fighters came, they could not gain access to the fire because of the shops that were built on the original motor park."
She however, appealed to the government to come to their aid to ensure that the market is rebuilt on time.
On the "illegal" shops, Lawal said that the case between the traders' association and the former local council chairman, Akeem Dickson, was still in court.
Chief Bernard Ebirim, former chairman, Tejuosho Extension, said he suspected sabotage in the fire claiming that since 1984 when the market was built, a fire incident of this magnitude had never happened. He said that over N6 billion would have been lost to the fire while he personally lost over N1.5 billion.
Ebirim said there had been confrontation between the traders and the local council over the "illegal" shops erected by the local council.
He further appealed to the state governor to address the problem in the market before effecting any change saying all the "illegal" structures in the market should be removed. He added that the traders could not salvage any of their property, as the fire fighters could not gain access to the market because of the "illegal" shops.
Governor Tinubu, who was accompanied by the commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, arrived at the market at about 12.15 p.m. He sympathised with the traders while promising to take quick action to help the traders.
He advised the traders to send a delegation to his office to discuss how to rebuild the market adding that the traders should not make any efforts to rebuild the market without approval from the government.
He assured the shop owners not to worry, as they would all regain their spaces after the reconstruction.
He, however, expressed gratitude to God that no life was lost in the inferno and that the construction of the market was an outright violation of town planning law.
