Lagos begins enumeration of traders affected in Balogun Market inferno

The Lagos state government has begun enumeration of the affected traders at Martins Street, Lagos, following the inferno that gutted some high-rise buildings housing shops and residential homes at the Balogun Market on Tuesday.

Director General, Lagos state Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen in Lagos.

He said the state government has also embarked on the integrity test of all structures affected by the fire to avoid another disaster.

According to him, the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, while at the site on Wednesday, sympathised with the traders on their losses, highlighting government’s plans to carry out proper enumeration of the traders.

He said that the enumeration would assist them in their businesses, while those property owners, who suffered losses as a result of the fire, would be given financial assistance.

Oke-Osanyintolu said that Lagos Island is dominated by buildings that were over a century old.

“Gov. Sanwo-Olu also stated on Wednesday that integrity tests will be conducted on all the buildings during the regeneration exercise to ascertain their integrity.

”The very weak buildings detected in the course of conducting the tests would be pulled down to further reduce the chances of disaster of such great magnitude in the state.

“I enjoin Lagos residents and traders not to overbuild commercial areas and respect the physical planning laws of the state regarding the provision of roads, setbacks and parking spaces for vehicles and allowances for fire fighting appliances to penetrate the area in case of a fire incident.

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“I also assured residents that there is no need to panic, nor hesitate to contact the relevant authorities in the event of any form of emergency/disaster through the state emergency toll free line 767 or 112,” Oke-Osanyintolu said.

He explained that goods worth millions of naira were destroyed as a result of the inferno.

The director general said that incidents of fire outbreak are on the high side due to the inability of property and shop owners to put necessary precautionary measures in place to avoid incidents that can have disastrous consequences.

He warned against the storage of highly inflammable materials such as petrol, diesel and kerosene to avoid disaster.