Shop owners have been thrown into agony, as property worth millions of Naira were destroyed in a fire incident at the Baboko Oja Tuntun Market in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The fire, which started around 2:00 a.m. local time and affected nearly 100 shops, is the fourth fire incident in five months.

Baboko Oja Tuntun Market in Ilorin is one of the biggest and largest in Ilorin West Local Government Area, as it houses sellers of cloths, foodstuffs, creams and other household utensils.

Only those who came early could gain access into the market and made attempts to save some of their goods, as the two gates leading into the market were closed to prevent hoodlums from looting the burnt shops. This, however, did not go down well with the fire victims, as they forced their way in.

It was a pitiable sight, as some shop owners affected try to remove remnants of their burnt wares with others looking dejected and sad.

A lady could not control herself. She jumped and rolled on the floor lamenting that she had bought the razed goods with a loan she had received the previous week. Although none of them could explain the cause of the fire incident, some of them said it must have been triggered by a power surge.

They called on the State government to provide a mobile fire service station in the market while also calling for total reconstruction to modern market. The State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, accompanied by the Secretary to the State Government and other officials visited the scene and commiserated with the shop owners over their losses.

He lamented that the incident had happened when the state was going through lean purse, but appealed to them to always be cautious and switch off electrical appliances every day.

He, however, assured them that a committee would be set up to consider how to bring a lasting solution to the constant fire incident at the market while a palliative measure would also be provided.