Posted on: 05:03 Sat, 11 Apr 2020



The popular Oja Tuntun, considered as the biggest market in Ile Ife, Osun State, was razed by a mysterious fire on Thursday.
Officials of the state Fire Service on Friday described the fire as ‘severe’.

Giving updates of the incidence in a chat with the Saturday PUNCH the Administrative Officer of the State Fire Service, Fatai Aremu, said over 30 shops were razed down in the inferno.

He explained that the Secretary of Ife Central Local Government Area, Sogo Elusakin, called Ife Unit Office of the Fire Service around 5:30 pm Thursday when the inferno started.

“Our men immediately proceeded to the scene. Upon arrival, a row of 30 shops had been engulfed by fire. While battling to extinguish the fire, OAU Ile Ife Fire personnel, as well as OAU Teaching Hospital Complex Fire personnel also joined our men.

“With the combine efforts of the three fire engines, we were able to subdue the fire. The supposed cause of the fire is still unknown as there was no electricity supply to the market and the shops were not open as at the time the fire started,” Aremu said.

According to him, investigation to unravel the cause of the fire has commenced, saying the loss was severe because the number of shops affected.

Meanwhile, Osun State Police Command has said operatives had been deployed to the scene of the incident to prevent looting.

Yemisi Opalola, the Police Public Relations Officer for Osun Command told our correspondent that security around the scene had been scaled up.



Also, the lawmaker representing Osun East Senatorial District, Senator Adenigba Fadahunsi has called on the federal and state government to equip the Fire Service to be more proactive and responsive.

The lawmaker made the call while reacting to the fire incident at Oja Tuntun, Ile Ife, in a statement by his Media adviser, Sam Segun-Progress.

The statement read,

“Why should traders in the market go through the agonising pain annually? Are there no people saddled with the responsibility of taking care of this market? Is there no arm of government generating revenue from this market, how is it difficult to put preventive measure in place?”

Fadahunsi then called on the state government to come to the aid of the traders, and put a mechanism in place that would prevent reoccurrence of such disaster.