By Nurat Uthman
Goods estimated at several millions of Naira were on Friday night destroyed in a fire outbreak which occurred at Olusola Saraki Market, Ita-Amo area in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State.
According to the Kwara State Fire Service, items destroyed in the fire incident included clothing materials, provisions, soft drinks and meat.
The Fire Service in a statement signed by the Principal Fire Officer and Head of Media and Publicity of the state Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, on Saturday, said seven shops were destroyed out of the 269 shops in the market.
It added that the fire was sparked by a power surge caused by fluctuating supply from the power distribution company.
The statement read, “On Friday, 10 January 2025, at about 21:36 hours, the Kwara State Fire Service received a distress call reporting a fire outbreak at Olusola Saraki Market, Ita-Amo, Ilorin.
“Our firefighters promptly deployed to the scene and discovered multiple shops ablaze in a market comprising 276 shops. Through swift intervention, professionalism, and expertise, our team successfully contained the inferno, limiting the damage to only seven shops and saving 269 others.
“The affected shops included meat vendors, clothing material shops, and provision stores.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the incident might have been caused by a power surge following the fluctuating power supply from the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), as reported by the market’s security personnel.”
The statement also noted that the Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Prince Falade John, sympathised with the market leadership, affected shop owners, and the entire market community.
Falade, while expressing hope that the losses of the traders would be restored in multiple folds, urged everyone to adopt fire safety measures to prevent future occurrences.
