Tears Flow as Fire Gulps Multi-Million Naira Property on Liberty Road in Ibadan

Dare Adebesin

A property worth multi millions of naira was on Sunday consumed by fire in Ibadan, Oyo state capital.

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News gathered that the inferno gulped a storey building with ten rooms and three shops situated behind a furniture company along Liberty Road, Ibadan, Oyo State Capital, destroying household goods worth millions of naira.

Eye witness sources confirmed to OTN News correspondent in Ibadan, Dare Adebesin, that the fire started in a sitting room upstairs due to an electrical spark, which could not be contained before spreading downstairs, adding that equipment in the shops was also completely ruined.

OTN News further gathered that the incident happened when most occupants had left for church, stating that a hairdressing salon, a fashion designer’s shop, and a foodstuff seller’s shop were equally affected, with equipment and consumables worth millions destroyed.

When OTN News correspondent visited the scene of the accident, shop owners were found in a deep state of agony, wailing and lamenting their losses of which they declined to comment on the incident.

Meanwhile, no life was lost in the fire incident.

When contacted, the General Manager Oyo State Fire Services Agency, Yemi Akinyinka, confirmed the incident, explaining that the fire was reported at 10:34 a.m. through a call from a neighbour stating that a house at number 1, Shoyombo Street, off Liberty Road, Oke-Ado, Ibadan, was ablazed.

He however revealed that, "Immediately, fire personnel led by ACFS Adedeji were deployed to the scene. On arrival, we found an ancient-storey residential building engulfed in flames. We acted swiftly and prevented the fire from spreading to nearby buildings."

"The fire was completely extinguished with assistance from Fire Marshals at a nearby mall. No casualties were recorded. The fire affected the building, but we successfully saved neighbouring structures. The cause was a high voltage surge when power was restored" he concluded.