Midnight Inferno Destroys 17 Shops at Lagos Sabo Market

(The scene of the fire. Photo Credit: Punch News)

No fewer than 17 shops were destroyed in an early morning fire that razed Sabo Market in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State on Tuesday.

The spokesperson for the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olawale Afolabi, disclosed in a statement that the fire broke out at about 1:10 a.m. and was successfully contained before it could spread to other sections of the market.

According to Afolabi, preliminary investigations showed that the fire originated in one of the shops before spreading to adjoining stalls, with the agency suspecting an electrical surge as the immediate cause, since the outbreak reportedly occurred while power supply was active.

He noted that emergency responders from LASEMA and the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service swiftly commenced firefighting operations, preventing the blaze from escalating into a bigger disaster.

He said a post-incident assessment revealed that 17 out of 32 shops in the affected section of the market were damaged, with provisions, groceries, foodstuffs and other goods destroyed in the process.

He added that no loss of life or injuries were recorded, noting that the remaining shops within the affected row, as well as adjoining shops in the market, were largely saved due to the prompt response of emergency teams, and that recovery operations had since been successfully concluded, allowing the LASEMA response team to return to base.

Commending the response teams, the Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, urged market leaders, traders and residents to prioritise electrical safety by ensuring proper wiring of shops, avoiding the overloading of electrical appliances, and carrying out regular inspections of electrical installations.

He also advised residents to promptly report emergencies through the state’s toll-free lines, 112 and 767.

The incident comes barely three days after a three-storey residential building was gutted by fire in the Ikosi area of the state, an incident in which, according to LASEMA, no lives were lost.