Date: 2021-06-07

Last Thursday's fire outbreak at the popular Ipata market, Ilorin, Kwara State has been traced to the activities of hemp smokers.

Sources in the market confided in LEADERSHIP that the hemp smokers always converged on a refuse dump near the market at night to smoke hemp.

They disclosed that the hemp smokers always dropped the remnants of the hemp sticks on the refuse, which often catch fire.

"Indian hemp smokers usually converge on the refuse heaps at night to smoke all sort of stuffs. They often smoke and drop the remnants of the smoke on the heaps, which often times catch fire and burn the refuse.

"Any visitor to that dump site at night will witness a beehive of activities, from smokers, to roadside call girls among others.

Many unexplainable activities go on daily on that dump site and it is often accompanied with heavy smoking of stuffs," one of the sources explained.

They pleaded with state government to assist them in evacuating the refuse heaps, stressing that apart from the fact that the fire jumped from the refuse to destroy their goods, it could also cause outbreak of epidemic.

Meanwhile, some of the victims of the fire outbreak at the Ipata market have narrated their ordeals, claiming that they lost over N20 million to the incident.