GOODS worth millions of naira were destroyed on Friday as fire ravaged shanties and shops in the Oko Baba and Kano Street areas of Ebute Meta, Lagos State.
An irate mob attacked emergency responders, who were mobilised to the scene and damaged some of the equipments belonging to the Federal Fire Service.
The spokesperson of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Nosa Okunbor, confirmed the fire incident as well as the attack by responders to Saturday Tribune.
The cause of the fire could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report, but many residents were said to have been displaced as a result of the fire, which lasted for hours.
Hundreds of residents were reportedly already battling with the inferno before emergency responders arrived at the scene.
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A resident of the area, who identified himself simply as Hafeez told Saturday Tribune that “the fire started from one of the clusters of shanties.”
The fire was able to spread so fast because most of the buildings were made with woods and they were very close to each other.”
The resident also said that “many of them had been completely burnt down by the time LASEMA and the others arrived.
“Some area boys, who were angered by the late arrival of the responders, threw bottles and other objects at the emergency workers and told them to go away.”
Okunbor, while speaking with Saturday Tribune said that apart from the fact that LASEMA had difficulties in accessing the scene of the fire incident, the person, who alerted the agency, gave a wrong address.
He also said that “the fire had been completely cut off by responders, who arrived at the scene but our men were attacked by an irate mob.”