An early morning inferno on Saturday razed no fewer than 17 shops at Oja tuntun, the biggest market in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Goods worth millions of naira were destroyed by the inferno.
As the time of filing this report, the cause of the incident was not known.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the Osun State Fire Service, Adekunle Ibrahim, said firemen got a distress call from a resident living near the market around 12.30 am.
Ibrahim added that when firefighters arrived at the scene, the inferno had affected a building having 16 shops and a container within the market, adding that a team from the fire unit of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, also joined the operation.
He said, “Ile-Ife Zonal Fire Station was informed about a fire incident at Olulere New Market, Oja Tuntun in Ile-Ife around 12.30am on Saturday, November 11, 2023.
“Our men met the fire well lit and put out the fire with assistance from the OAU Fire Unit. Properties saved worth over N500 million, but a block which had a total of 16 shops and one container, making a total of 17 shops were affected.”
Speaking in a similar vein, the Public Relations Officer of Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Kehinde Adeleke, said operatives of the command were on guard at the scene to prevent looting, as firemen battled to prevent the fire from spreading to other parts of the market.