Ondo vows to prosecute suspects over fire that destroyed 12 shops
By Boye Oyeyemi
The Ondo State Government has vowed to prosecute two men suspected of deliberately setting fire to a shop at Moferere Neighbourhood Market in Ondo, an incident that spread to adjoining buildings and destroyed 12 shops.
The Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperative Services, Pastor Adebola Ademuwagun, gave the assurance during an inspection of the affected market in Ondo West Local Government Area, describing the incident as a suspected case of arson rather than an electrical fault.
He disclosed that one of the suspects had been arrested and was being detained at the police headquarters in Akure, while the second suspect had fled and was being sought by security operatives.
Meanwhile, the representative of the market’s Iyaloja, Akinsulire Olapeju, told the commissioner’s delegation that the incident was allegedly linked to a sales representative who could not account for goods entrusted to him by his employer.
According to her, the suspect allegedly conspired with a friend to set fire to his employer’s shop in an attempt to conceal the alleged mismanagement of the goods and prevent their discovery.
Akinsulire further alleged that the suspect visited the shop at about 9pm on Wednesday with matches and a keg of petrol, which he reportedly poured inside the premises before setting it ablaze, causing the fire to spread to neighbouring shops.
The inferno destroyed property worth millions of naira, including electronic appliances, deep freezers, sewing machines, textiles, crates of soft drinks, bottled water and food items, leaving several traders without their sources of livelihood, although no lives were lost. Consequently, the affected traders appealed to the state government for financial assistance to cushion their losses.
In response, Ademuwagun promised to convey their appeal to Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, while the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Toyin Oni, sympathised with the victims and condemned the alleged actions of the suspects.
