Inferno: Sanwo-Olu orders closure of Dosunmu-Lagos market

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Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, visited Dosunmu Market fire scene, directing the market shut.

The governor, who described the market as a complete disaster, demanded full assessment of buildings in Dosunmu and adjoining areas on the Lagos Island, consequent of the market fire disaster on Tuesday.

At least14 multi-storey buildings were completely turned into rubbles in the wake of incident, allegedly caused by reckless handling of a running generating set by a trader.

Sanwo-Olu assured that unapproved and failed structures in the market area will be pulled down.

The governor said the government would come hard on structures and properties not conforming to the Government’s guidelines across markets.

Sanwo-Olu decried conversion of residential buildings to warehouses without approval from the Government, noting that preliminary report indicted owners of buildings in the market.

The Governor was taken aback by the reckless storage of combustible materials in the market buildings despite extended warnings and advocacy by the State Government on safe way to store such items in harsh weather.

Sanwo-Olu said the market fire was preventable, but noted that “gross carelessness” in storage of the flammable materials supported the spread of the fire, which completely destroyed goods and assets worth millions.

According to him, “We have just finished on-the-spot assessment of the very unfortunate and preventable fire disaster here in Dosunmu market. The fire started two days ago and first responders were activated immediately. We thought the incident could be brought under control with hours. Accesses were denied to first responders for couple of hours ; 48 hours after, the scene is still a live site. We still have isolated fire, making the scene an active site. This is a complete disaster and extremely unfortunate.

“This is the consequence of inaction and irresponsibility. Thankfully, no life has been lost, but the loss in property, assets and collateral damage could not be quantified. This market will be closed until when we are able to do full assessment and cleanup of this area. Without any iota of doubt, some other buildings are still going to go down. This is totally unacceptable. We will not allow a few people who will not comply with our rules and laws to put the lives of others in danger.

“This is a call to other markets; the Government will not shy away from its responsibilities. We will come really hard on structures and properties that will not conform to our guidelines. There will be zero tolerance for reckless behaviour in the markets . We will not fold our hands and watch another one happen. A lot of residential buildings that were approved as residences were converted to warehouses, including people’s living rooms. Materials that support spread of fire were stored in those buildings.”

After assessment of the fire site, Sanwo-Olu met with the residents and market stakeholders to share Government’s concerns and intention to regenerate the site.

The Governor also discussed support and intervention to put forward in assuaging the pain of the affected traders and getting them back on their feet.