Victims of Oyo market fire seek Makinde’s help

The victims of the popular Oranyan Market fire incident in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Monday, appealed to the government and well-to-do individuals in the state to come to their aid as the incident has affected their means of livelihood.

PUNCH Metro reports that over 40 shops were completely razed to the ground, at the herbal section of the market, in the Ibadan North East Local Government Area of state, on Saturday.

Though no life was lost, the incident destroyed multimillion naira property and herbs.

Our correspondent, who visited the market again on Monday, observed that the affected traders had been rebuilding the shops.
Some of the traders, who spoke with PUNCH Metro, lamented that they had been living from hand to mouth since the incident occurred, hence the need to appeal to the state government, and other philanthropists to assist them financially to start their business again.

The market youth leader, Fatimoh Adebimpe, said, “Since that fire incident, we have been living from hand to mouth. As you can see by yourself, we have been rebuilding the market but we still need a lot of money not only to complete those shops but to buy goods.
“Many of us just obtained loans from different places to purchase goods before it happened. At this time, we can only appeal to the government through our governor, Seyi Makinde, to come to our aid. We know he is a listening governor. We believe so much in him, as he has rendered humanitarian services to different groups in the state before.”
Another victim, Kafaliat Lucky, the market secretary, said the cause of the incident was still sketchy after almost four weeks.

She urged the Ibadan North East Local Government executive members and Makinde to assist the affected traders.

“We are facing many challenges now. The school fees of our children are there, and you know that the incident happened during the vacation of schools, both private and public schools.

“Some of us pay before their resumption but with the current situation, I don’t think one quarter of the affected traders have paid anything. So, we are all struggling on how to equip the shops right now to continue performing our responsibilities as parents. We therefore appeal to the government to help us,” she explained.