A disastrous fire again wreaked havoc in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Sunday morning, destroying three shops while the prompt arrival of the state fire services saved 13 others.
Investigations by PUNCH Metro revealed that the blaze, which began around midnight behind a branch of the First City Monument Bank, Dugbe in Ibadan, is believed to be the burning of refuse unattended to by the occupants of the premises.
Though no life was lost, property and goods worth millions of naira were destroyed during the inferno.
PUNCH Metro recalls that a devastating fire had within December 2024 engulfed many places, especially Moniya market where 17 shops alongside multi-million naira goods were destroyed and a parish of the Christ Apostolic Church at Wisdom Estate, Road 1G, Olohunda-Aba Road, was also engulfed by fire.
One of the sources who pleaded anonymity said, “Actually, the cause of the fire incident is still unknown to me, but I heard people saying it was a result of burning of refuse by the people living on that premises.”
Confirming the incident, the General Manager of the state fire services, Yemi Akinyinka, said the agency received a phone call around 12:25 am on Sunday.
He said, “Our agency received the information at exactly 00:25 hrs on Sunday. The personnel were quickly deployed to the scene of the incident, and they got there in time because there was no traffic, no hold-up.
“On getting there, the three shops out of 13 shops had already been engulfed by fire. We swung into action and restricted the fire from spreading to other nearby property. The fire was completely extinguished and people on the ground were educated on the proper ways of preventing fire during the harmattan and how to control it at an incipient stage.
“Three shops were destroyed, 13 shops and other property were saved by the officers of the state fire services agency.”
Akinyinka stressed that the cause of the fire was traced to be the burning of refuse unattended to by the occupants of the premises.
He, therefore, warned against indiscriminate burning of refuse and bush, adding that “undergrowth should be totally avoided in our community.”
