… Saves Property, Goods Worth Millions of Naira from Destruction
A swift and timely response by the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Fire & Rescue Service and other emergency responders ensured that the market fire that affected 66 key-clamp shops, 25 containerised shops and four administrative offices at Kairo Market in Oshodi, Lagos, in the early hours of Friday was quelled to prevent further destruction.
Commenting on the incident during his visit to the market to access the impact of the overnight fire incident, Director-General/CEO of LASEMA, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osayintolu, stated that a comprehensive evaluation would be carried out to determine the cause of the inferno.
He stated that although the fire had been extinguished, preliminary investigations indicated that some form of explosives/accelerants caused the fire, adding that relevant authorities, including the Nigeria Police, have been alerted to carry out further investigations.
While condemning the attack on the first responders at the Kairo Downtown Market in Oshodi, which left an emergency vehicle vandalised by miscreants in the process of quelling the fire, Oke-Osanyintolu warned that henceforth anyone caught molesting first responders during an emergency situation would face the full wrath of the law.
He said, “It is lamentable that some members of the public sabotaged our efforts by cutting our hoses in the middle of the operation to save their shops, which affected the overall efforts of our personnel and damaged our equipment. Our firefighters were exposed to violence during the incident”.
“Some members of our team were attacked with several sustaining injuries that required medical attention in the course of attempting to discharge their duties. The Agency frowns at any assault and maltreatment of its personnel and will conduct necessary investigations to determine the culprits. We also intend to engage the market authorities for sensitisation on fire prevention and modalities of cooperation during such incidents”, he added.
