A massive fire broke out on Monday at the Oja Agbe market in Moniya, Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan, Oyo State, causing extensive damage to goods and property worth millions of Naira.
The fire, which started around midnight, quickly spread across the market, destroying 17 shops, containers, and nearby buildings.
Authorities have traced the cause of the blaze to unattended electrical appliances that were left plugged in.
Witnesses described the devastation, noting that valuable goods stored in the affected shops were completely destroyed.
Kolawole Balogun, the Babaloja (chief market leader) of Moniya Garage, was among the first to arrive at the scene after being alerted around 12:30 am.
He confirmed the scale of the destruction, saying, “I can confirm that goods and property worth millions have been lost.”
Saliu Bello, Chairman of the Garage, added that the fire also destroyed significant amounts of cash that some traders had stored in their shops overnight.
“Some market vendors often keep their money in their shops when they go home, and this was all lost,” Bello said.
Several victims of the fire, including Yetunde Musa, Ajetunmobi Idowu, Olaide Badmus, Balogun Sulaimon, and Ajetunmobi Kolawole, have appealed to the government for assistance in rebuilding their businesses and recovering their losses.
Akinyemi Akinyinka, the General Manager of Oyo State Fire Services, confirmed the incident, stating that the fire was reported to the agency at 00:27 hrs.
He said, “Our personnel, led by ACFS Oyedeji, were immediately deployed to the scene. Upon arrival, we found several rows of shops and container shops on fire.”
The fire service took swift action, preventing the flames from spreading further and saving additional property.
“While millions of Naira worth of goods were destroyed, billions of Naira worth of properties were saved. Fortunately, no lives were lost,” Akinyinka added.
He urged the people of Oyo State to handle fire hazards with care to prevent future incidents and reiterated that the fire was caused by electrical appliances that were left unattended.
