As the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS) on Thursday finally quenched the fire that engulfed a section of the Arena Market, Bolade, Oshodi, Lagos, soldiers at the scene did not spare journalists who were there to report the incident.

While soldiers threatened to beat up reporters of The Guardian, Eniola Daniel, and Punch, Dayo Oyewo, the soldiers seized the camera of African Independent Television (AIT) and sent others away.

An officer of the Nigerian Army, Gaktong G. J., armed with a cane, threatened to flog journalists who were at the scene to report. He shouted that nobody invited journalists to the scene and that he had the right to do anything.

While reporters were trying to explain further, he invited other soldiers to send them out of the area.

“TVC, AIT and NTA came here and I sent them away. We don’t know what is called journalist here. You better leave,” he said while pointing his cane at reporters.

Meanwhile, while the fire has been put out, the LSFRS has been unable to state the cause of the fire, as the management of the market refused to speak on the inferno.

The Arena fire outbreak happened eight days after a driver and others escaped in the train collision at the Arena, Oshodi area of Lagos.

The Arena fire affected a section of the market consisting of five 40-foot container shops arranged in two rows, making a total of about 20 shops. The affected area is primarily used for the storage and sale of clothing materials, which were stocked in bales.

Efforts of the fire crews from Bolade, Ilupeju, Ikeja and Alausa fire stations prevented the fire from spreading beyond the second row.

The Controller-General, Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said: “The fire has been put out.”

A trader In the market, who did not want her name in print, said: “About 20 shops got burned like that of Lagos Island, but the difference is that no life was lost. Millions worth of goods and money have been burnt.”

Another said: “The fire spread so far because the shops contained clothes. I broke many of the doors to join the efforts in combating the fire.

“Unfortunately, there was no water in the Arena Market, and it contributed to the spread of the fire. A shop owner just offloaded yesterday, hours before the Incident, and he lost everything, including money kept in the shop.” (The Guardian)