By Peter Dansu A late-night fire on Saturday wreaked havoc at the popular Mowo Motor Park in Olorunda Local Council Development Area (LCDA)...
By Peter Dansu
A late-night fire on Saturday wreaked havoc at the popular Mowo Motor Park in Olorunda Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Badagry, Lagos State, destroying at least three shops and goods worth several millions of naira.
The inferno, which reportedly started around midnight, was said to have been triggered by an electrical spark shortly after power was restored in the area. Shop owners and eyewitnesses said the fire spread quickly and caught them completely unawares.
Among the worst-hit is a well-known businesswoman in the area popularly called Gèlè-ọdùn. Her shop, stocked with assorted alcoholic and soft drinks, beers, freezers, and other goods, was completely razed. According to locals, the fire also consumed a large sum of cash – estimated at over ₦1 million – reportedly kept in the shop.
“I don’t know how to start again,” said one of Gèlè-ọdùn’s salesgirls, visibly shaken by the loss. “Everything – the drinks, the fridge, and even the money – all gone in the fire.”
Another affected shop owner, a trader popularly known as Aboki, also lost everything in his provision store. Bags of rice, cartons of noodles, foodstuff, drinks, and other items were turned to ashes by the raging flames.
“I was called in the middle of the night that my shop was on fire. By the time I got there, everything was gone,” he said in a sorrowful tone.
The fire was eventually put out with the help of local residents, but not before it had completely consumed the affected shops. No lives were lost in the incident.
Victims of the fire have now made a passionate appeal to the government, local authorities, and kind-hearted individuals for urgent support to help them rebuild their businesses and livelihoods.
“We are pleading for help,” one of them said. “This is our only means of survival, and we’ve lost it all in one night.”
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