Fire Destroys Motor Spare Parts Plaza In Apapa, Lagos

  

Tragedy struck yesterday, Sunday, at the Trinity Spare Parts Market in the Olodi Apapa area of Ajegunle, Lagos, as no fewer than 150 shops, including their wares, were destroyed by an inferno.

The fire was caused by an electrical power surge in one of the shops  in The Speed Well Plaza on the ‘B’ line of the market. This happened after the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, restored electricity supply to the shopping complex around 3pm.
The Speed Well Plaza has about 200 shops, occupied mostly by spare parts traders.
A resident of the area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “This whole incident started when PHCN 
restored power here.
“Not long after that, I saw a thick smoke coming from one of the shops on B line,though I did not know the fire was going to be this big and spread to other parts of the plaza.”
Some of the affected traders expressed shock at the mid-Sunday fire.
They lamented the extent of the destruction, adding that for them to get back to business, the government would need to assist them.
A distressed trader, Mr. Izuchukwu Agwu, said, “I am finished. I have lost everything I have to this fire incident.
Unless something is done, I am heading back to the village and you know what it means – suicide. I sleep in my shop and I have no other business here.”
He added, “I was lucky not to have been in there when the fire started. Who knows, I might have been burnt. Now, what else do I have? I am heading back to the village tonight.”
Policemen from Trinity Police Station with other security personnel provided security at the plaza as fire fighters from the Lagos State Fire Service and those believed to be from Julius Berger Plc battled to put out the ragging fire.
The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Mr. Rasak Fadipe, explained that the fire was aggravated by the inflammable materials stored in most of the shops in the spare parts market.