It's been almost two weeks since a massive fire destroyed one of Lagos' plank markets, the Oko-Oba wood market in the Ebute-Metta area.
The majority of the traders have yet to recover from the shock. The market would go up in flames for the second time in six months.
Traders are counting their losses after a fire ripped through the market, destroying property worth more than N100 million, according to some. The fire, which has yet to be determined, began in a section of the market.
Rescuers and local merchants blamed the fire on carelessness and strong winds.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the agency and others worked tirelessly to keep the fire from spreading to other areas.
According to Ibrahim Farinloye, Public Relations Officer of NEMA in the South West Region, the fire completely destroyed some makeshift shops before spreading to other parts of the market.
"The fire was massive because there was too much wind, and most of the shops with logs were destroyed," he explained.
However, some traders claimed the fire was started by people who lit a fire in another section of the market but failed to properly put it out The wind then blew the fire to the sawmill area, where there is sawdust.
Kolawole Ojo, one of the affected traders, said he had to leave the area after losing everything to the fire.
"The fire started near the sawmill and spread to logs already lined up for sawing, eventually consuming almost the entire market."
“There is nothing remaining in the market. We were even told that a trader had a stroke after losing his money there. "When he heard about the unfortunate incident, he almost jumped into the fire," he said.
Shade Gbolahan, who sells nails, said she lost everything in the fire and will have to find another way to make a living.
She claimed to have hidden over N700,000 in her burnt-out shop.
"When the fire started, we thought it wouldn't reach us, so we burned everything." It was too late to act by the time it reached us.
"I tried, but I could only save five bags of nails." "Two beds, a mattress, and gallons of gum were all burned," she explained.
After losing her husband two years ago, she said the fire shattered her dreams.
Another trader, Rashidat Alimi, whose shop was destroyed by fire, said she suffered significant losses because the information about the fire outbreak arrived late.
"We have no idea where this problem came from; it has become a ritual." Some of us are still reeling from the previous firestorm. "I had one of the biggest shops, so I lost nearly N5 million," she explained.
They petitioned the government for assistance after some of them obtained loans from banks and other financial institutions.
Remember that on January 5, a similar fire razed over 500 properties belonging to approximately 2,000 traders, the majority of whom are struggling to make a living by selling planks, keys, and nails.
The Oko Oba sawmill is one of the largest in Nigeria, accounting for approximately 80 to 90 percent of the wood used in Lagos State. The sawmill, located at the Lagos lagoon in Ebute Metta, houses over 2,000 sawmill operators and is intended to sustain the supply chain in the entire metropolis.
Following the recurrent fire outbreaks, the state government had previously announced plans to relocate saw millers from Okobaba to the Agbiwa-Ikosi site.
The Lagos State Government also revealed plans for a comprehensive regeneration of the old site in Ebute Metta.
Dr Idris Salako, the State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, stated that the government was waiting for the relocation to Agbowa timber village before entrusting the new task to the state's Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA).
Years after the Mainland Saw Millers' Association signed a memorandum for resettlement in Agbowa, Ikorodu, with the former governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, the relocation of the saw millers remained unresolved.