Traders at the popular Aleshinloye Market in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, are now counting their losses following Friday night’s fire that razed about 590 shops. News Express had broken the story of the fire disaster, which occurred late in the night.

The fire disaster has been traced to a power surge which affected a refrigerator inside one of the affected shops.

Mr. Kunle Badejo, one of the affected shop owners, revealed that “the incident occurred on Friday night but the inferno was not able to be put it off until Saturday morning because the fire fighters could not get enough water to contain the fire. As you can see, so many shops were affected, and people have been bitterly wailing as a result of this.”

Another shop owner who craves anonymity said: “This case is really a terrible one and would remain a sad day for many of us. The situation got more worsened because most of us traders got to know of the incident very late in the midnight, but we happened to realise that some hoodlums had already vandalised and stolen most of our goods before the fire service men got to the market.”

Losses by the traders have been put at several millions of naira. The burnt items were mainly jewelry, fabrics, shoes, handbags, travelling bags, bottles of wine and wrist watches, among others.

“The fire initially started with five shops when the private night guards on duty alerted men of the Oyo State Fire Service,” a source said.

Wife of the Oyo State Governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, has symphatised with

traders at the market. She said in a statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Yejide Gbenga, that she shared the traders’ pain over their losses, praying that God may comfort and strengthen them.

“This is indeed a sad occurrence which has negatively affected the lives of many families, their economy,” Mrs. Ajimobi said.

•Photo by Mayowa Okekale shows goods burnt as a result of the inferno at Aleshinloye market, Ibadan on Friday night.