Separate fire incidents hit Akunlemu Market, hotel in Ibadan

By Adejayan Gbenga

Goods and household items worth millions of naira have reportedly been destroyed in separate fire incidents at Akunlemu Market in Oyo town and a hotel in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The fire at Akunlemu Market occurred on Tuesday night, affecting several shops and destroying goods and other items belonging to traders. No casualty was recorded.

The Chairman of the Oyo State Fire Service, Hon. Maroof Akinwande, confirmed the incident, saying firefighters arrived at the scene to find the affected shops ablaze.

He said the fire crew immediately swung into action and brought the blaze under control, preventing it from spreading to other shops and adjoining properties.

Meanwhile, properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed in a separate fire at a hotel on Abigael Makinde Close in the Abayomi area of Ibadan in the early hours of Wednesday.

Akinwande said firefighters discovered on arrival that a storey building comprising four rooms and being used as a hotel and lounge had been engulfed by flames and thick smoke. He added that no injuries were recorded.

In another incident, Akinwande said a tanker carrying 45,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil, or AGO, overturned in the Moniya area of Ibadan, near a primary health centre along New Moniya Road.

According to him, the tanker, identified as a FONTO trailer with registration number FKJ 843 XL (Lagos), swerved off the road and entered a nearby ditch. He said firefighters intervened to contain the situation and prevent further escalation.