The Director General, Lagos
State Emergency Manage-
ment Agency (LASEMA),
Dr Olufemi Oke-Osanyin-
tolu has confirmed that a total of 17
people sustained injuries, including a
pregnant woman and firefighter at an-
other inferno in Lagos.
Oke-Osanyintolu made the disclo-
sure in an interview with News Agen-
cy of Nigeria (NAN) at the Martins
fire outbreak scene at about 9:30 p,m.
in Lagos on Wednesday.
According to him, a total of 17 peo-
ple sustained injuries, 15 were treated
at the scene and discharged, while the
remaining two a pregnant woman and
a firefighter had been hospitalised.
He said that the pregnant woman’s
injury was as a result of shock she
experienced and the Lagos State Fire
Service Staff (firefighter) sustained in-
juries from one of the collapsed build-
ing.
“A total of nine buildings were se-
verely affected, four had already col-
lapsed and are being levelled to ground
zero having failed integrity tests.
”The remaining five buildings also
affected will be subjected to testing;
those that fail will also be demolished.
” The bulk of the fire has been cur-
tailed, while some pockets remain
along with some residual sparks and
the fire services continue in their ef-
forts to fully extinguish the flames,”
Oke-Osanyintolu told NAN.
He, however, urged Lagos residents
and traders to remain calm and as-
sured them of Gov. Babajide San-
wo-Olu’s commitment to the safety
and security of all in the state.
Also speaking, the Director Gen-
eral, Lagos State Safety Commission,
(LASSC), Mr Lanre Mojola, expressed
disappointment over another fire out-
break, which took place at Martins
Street again in 2020.
Mojola said that his team were at the
market on Jan. 19 to sensitise them to
the need to ensure safety in the mar-
ket to avoid fire outbreak, which lead
to lost of lives and valuable goods in
2019.
He said that it was unfortunate that
in spite of the awareness another dis-
aster took place again, adding that the
commission would increase its sensi-
tisation until the traders comply with
the vision and mission of Gov. San-
wo-Olu on safety of lives and property.
The Lagos State’s Commissioner of
Police, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, advised
that the safety Commission should be
resistance during enforcement and
avoid being sentimental.
He said that the full assessment of
the fire outbreak could not be ascer-
tained now, adding that from what he
had seen so far, the collapsed building
was a man-made disaster.
“The information we gathered on the
ground now is that it was just a gener-
ator that was being refuelled, the gen-
erator was not even on the first floor,
if it had been on the ground floor, it
would have been easier for them to
curtail it.
” Coupled with the lackadaisical at-
titude of our people, it is when some-
body is alive that he can make money,
the routes where the emergency ser-
vices ought to follow to get inside had
been blocked with various goods and
now it becomes difficult for them to
move in.
“As it is now, I think the government
will take definite actions but ours on
the ground is to make sure that there is
no loot to any property and no attack
on anybody,” Odumosu said.
He urged traders to stop entering
into the affected building by trying to
take out their goods, adding that once
there were weighty movement on a
weak foundation that the building
could collapse and it might be difficult
to rescue victims.
Odumosu said that police would be
on the ground throughout until the
evacuation was completed to ensure
that there were no more casualties.
The Acting Director, Lagos State
Fire Services, Mrs Margaret Oluseye,
said they had been putting out the fire
since 10:15a.m.
She urged Nigerians to have attitudi-
nal change towards safety of lives and
property to avoid constant fire inci-
dent in the state.
“I cannot imagine someone fuelling
generator while the generator was on
and the lackadaisical attitude led to
the fire outbreak, which have affected
many buildings in Martins Street,” she
said.
